[FL] [FL] Do I have legal grounds against a storage facility who discarded my things without consent?

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What state is the facility located in?

Ok, and they took your stuff without permission out of the unit? Or what did they do?

It sounds like you’ve had an incredibly frustrating experience with the storage facility in Florida, especially since your belongings were apparently thrown out without your permission. It’s completely reasonable to question their attempt to dodge responsibility by pointing to your insurance coverage—after all, insurance is supposed to protect you, not give the facility a free pass to mishandle your property.

Let’s unpack what Florida law says about storage facilities and your rights in a situation like this.

The key law here is Chapter 83, Part IV of the Florida Statutes, which deals with self-storage units. This law mostly focuses on what a facility can do if someone doesn’t pay their rent (like enforcing a lien and selling stored items). But your case is different—you weren’t behind on payments, and the issue wasn’t a lien sale.

Instead, it seems the facility disposed of your things after water damage, which puts the focus squarely on the lease agreement you signed. That document is crucial because it spells out what the facility can and can’t do in situations like this, including whether they’re allowed to enter your unit, how they must notify you of damage, and under what conditions they can remove or dispose of your belongings.

If the lease doesn’t clearly give them the right to throw out your property without warning or consent, their actions may have gone beyond what they were legally allowed to do. That’s why it’s so important to review the lease closely—look for anything about inspection access, how they’re supposed to communicate with you after damage, and especially what kind of notice they have to give before disposing of anything.

As for their argument that your insurance limits their liability, that’s not necessarily true. While leases often include clauses limiting a facility’s responsibility for damage (especially from things like leaks or accidents), those limits don’t usually apply if the facility took actions they weren’t authorized to take. Throwing out your property without permission is a serious matter, and your insurance isn’t a blanket excuse for that. Insurance is there to help you recover from a loss—not to let the facility off the hook if they mishandled your items.

You may have several strong legal claims. For example, if the facility violated the terms of your lease, you could pursue a breach of contract claim. If they wrongfully took or disposed of your property, that could fall under conversion, which is when someone interferes with your personal property without legal justification. And even if the water damage wasn’t their fault, discarding your things without notifying you might still count as negligent handling.

There are also specific Florida statutes worth mentioning.

• Section 83.806 allows facility owners to enter a unit in certain situations, like emergencies, but it doesn’t give them the right to dispose of property without following proper procedures.
• Section 83.808 outlines what must happen before property is sold or discarded due to unpaid rent—which wasn’t your case—but it reinforces the broader legal idea that notice is required before someone’s belongings are removed or thrown out.

Since you already have a small claims case in progress, your next step should be to give your attorney (or yourself, if self-representing) a copy of the lease. Review how the facility’s actions compare with what the contract and Florida law actually allow. Be sure to stress that the key issue isn’t just the water damage—it’s that your property was disposed of without your consent and without proper notice.

Keep all your documentation, photos, messages, and anything else that shows the value of what you lost and what communication (or lack thereof) took place.

In short, the storage facility can’t simply point to your insurance and expect to be off the hook. If they didn’t follow the lease or legal procedures, they could still be liable. You’ve got solid grounds—breach of contract and conversion are strong legal arguments—and working with clear evidence and a detailed timeline will be essential.