Posted on 12/09/2010 11:35:16 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
That’s not true, they don’t do an immediate lock up, you generally have to be at least a full month back. And even if they did lock you out the minute you were late you still had the time BEFORE you were late to get in there and grab some stuff out for sale.
It’s not judgmental, it’s pointing out basic reality. If you have something of value stored in rented property it’s probably because you know it has value and intend to sell it at some point. If reality has gotten a little ugly for you now’s probably a good time to sell it, get your butt in the locker and start selling. I’ve sold property to pay bills, it sucks, but that’s what the stuff is there for, ESPECIALLY if you’ve put it in storage because clearly you’re not getting use out of it so you might as well get rid of it.
Here’s the story I promised RobRoy from earlier today.
In defense of those “evil”, “greedy”, “leeches” who buy stuff from storage sales who some of you think only seek profit from the so-called misery of others.
Last summer Mrs. panax and I went to an “everything must go today Estate Sale”. We arrived on time and found an 18 wheeler trailer filled to the brim with household items. The new owner of the foreclosed property had to empty the loaned trailer because his boss needed it to haul company supplies. Really good stuff and the prices were right.
We bought the usual chairs, tables, new mens shirts and pants with price tags still on them (my size), glassware etc.
I looked in some of the boxes in the back of the trailer and they were filled with old family photos (some framed, some not), negatives, 100+ photo albums, baby books, hundreds of old 16mm film reels of graduations and family outings, dozens of awards and trophys, bank statements, letters. There were at least 50 boxes of family history all headed for the dump the next morning.
We offered them $3.00 a box for the lot. The guy selling the stuff jumped with joy and said “you bet! Now I don’t have to take it to the dump. He had the dumpster sitting next to the trailer ready to fill it with a familie entire history. No way were we going to let that happen. We bought them all for the sole purpose of getting this stuff back to it’s rightful owners. I drove 60 miles round trip from our house three times to retrieve the goods.
We spent 2 days and nights searching through every box hoping to find a single address. I spent hours doing internet searches, phone books, made phone calls to New Jersey and NYC. Unfortunately, the man’s bank in NJ had changed their name, ATT where he had worked as an executive never got back to me. We called churches that he had donated large sums of money to that we found in a box of cancelled checks. Some of the awards/plaques were from the Boy Scouts of America for his contributions. I called them and nobody knew or remembered this man. Other awards were from the mayors, charity organizations, Notre Dame University, La Salle High School in Troy, NY.
Mrs. panax yelled upstairs that she had found an email to him that was a golf joke and it had some addresses that I could try to contact. I did and three days later I got a phone call from a guy in Troy that was his nephew. News of this treasure had made it’s way throughout the family and they wanted to know how much we wanted for his Uncle’s stuff. Are you kidding? I said, “We’re just happy that we finally found the rightful owners, come and get it”.
He and his wife arrived two hours later from Troy and we spent three hours with them talking about the achievements their Uncle had made in his life. How this all came to be at an Estate Sale in upstate NY? How come family members didn’t have it? So many questions. The baby book belong to his wife. She did not even know that it existed and was crying like a baby when she thumbed through it. My wife was crying along with her seeing the joy that we brought to them both. It was one of the most touching moments of my life. I will never forget it.
The man had purchased the property many years ago as a family gathering place and a retreat for poor kids from the city. Lots of acres of ponds, swings, animals and a baseball field. His bank account showed that in the early 70’s he had in his checking account over a million dollars, was an executive for ATT, had an office in the World Trade Center, attended Notre Dame on a scholorship for 4 years and was captain of the Basketball team from 1961 to 1965, held the high scoring record for many years and was well liked by all his friends. He had a stroke after his wife died and according to his bank records had $0.06 left in that account.
We found numerous checks made out to the Boy Scouts for $5000.00. Checks to ND and LaSalle equal or greater than that. Churches, youth organizations, you name it and he donated to them. He is now in a rest home and broke, except for his memories.
That man was Larry Sheffield.
http://www.und.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/nd-all-century-nominees.html
I’m not looking for any pat on the back. We just did what was the right thing to do. Hopefully you can all see that not every person that buys from storage units are “leeches preying on the misery of others”.
Sounds like he is a far richer man than many.
Thanks for sharing.
You’ve restored some of my faith in humanity.
That is some story! Thank you for sharing and your efforts.
amazing story!!! thanks for sharing it with us :)
You can't just toss something like that in the trash, so my Dad spent several nights (in those pre-internet days) calling families with the same last name in Oklahoma. He finally tracked down a relative, and sent the scrap book to them.
Why?
Isn't that the basis of honest competition in business, sports, courtship?
I said ‘some’
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