Storage Unit Full Of Mold - Who Disposes Of The Items?

Location: South Carolina, USA

Hi, I’ve been renting a climate controlled storage unit for almost a year now and when I last went to check on my items, I discovered that everything was covered in mold and the siding of the building was damaged so rain could come into the unit.

Pretty much everything in there was fabric furniture so it’s all ruined. It was incredibly fragrant and inspecting the items for 30 seconds made me feel dizzy.

I emailed the storage company and let them know I was filing through insurance and ending my contract immediately. Insurance is only refunding up to $500 per my contract, which is a bummer but not the hill I want to die one considering I had max like 1k in there.

What’s really irritating me is the storage company is refusing to dispose of anything. They’re saying it is not their responsibility to dispose of my items. They don’t have a dumpster on premise so they’re recommending that I hire a crew to dispose of it for me since I have started it is a biohazard and is not safe.

I haven’t done anything with the items and I told them twice verbally that I would not be due to safety concerns. They aren’t budging and actually just tried to charge me rent for April, so they are not terminating the lease until I remove the items.

Am I out of line here? Who is liable? Do I really need to hire a biohazard team to remove the items? IMO this is ridiculous - their building is damaged and it’s insane to require a tenant to clean up their negligence.