How Self Storage Facilities Check on Customers
Self storage facilities are in demand today owing to the increasing need of people for storage spaces. These rental units may be used by either those in business who need to keep some inventory or their stocks or just the typical homeowners who need an extra space in which to keep their personal belongings.
These facilities implement stringent rules to ensure safekeeping of their clients’ stored items. It is then the customer’s responsibility to adhere to these rules to avoid conflicts and other problems moving forward.
Security measures in these buildings have been improved in recent years mainly because of threats of terrorism. Authorities in the self storage industry admit that due to homeland security issues, facilities are now faced with the big challenge of knowing their customers well.
In response to this security issue, the Self Storage Association (SSA) in the U.S. for instance has launched a new program called the SSA Countermeasures. This program is carried out online and allows staff at the counter to verify a customer’s identification right away. This online program also enables the management to check on the bankruptcy record, credit score and criminal background of clients in a matter of just a few seconds.
This verification process is vital to ensure that renters have the right qualifications including the financial capability to pay their monthly fees. The Self Storage Association says if the owner of a facility finds out a potential customer has a felony record, he or she has the right to refuse rent to that person. The same is true if a renter is on a terrorism watch list. The association points out that this is their regulation because once a customer rents out a certain space, nobody else is allowed access to that unit and even the operator of the facility needs to secure a search warrant first in order to search inside the space.
The stringent security systems put into place at these facilities stemmed from several incidents in the past wherein self storage buildings were used by some fraudulent people to store and assemble illegal items. The SSA has also advised its members to notify its Joint Terrorism Task Force for any suspicious activity or behavior in their respective facilities. In addition, the group has also released educational materials to managers to enable them to easily recognize suspicious behavior and immediately report them to authorities.
Self storage units are available in different sizes. The smallest measures 10 feet x 5 feet equivalent to a walk-in closet while the biggest can measure about 20 feet x 20 feet which is about the same size as a garage that accommodates two cars. Most of these units have no windows and uses corrugated metal doors that have their own lock and key.
Many of these facilities utilize advanced security and alarm systems. These can include hidden cameras or the so called CCTV cameras, individual door alarms and electronic gate access such as the prox card, keypad, thumbprint or hand scanners. These security measures are meant to protect not only the facility but as well as the individual units and the items stored in there against burglars and other accidents.