Change In Management Leads To Accidental Disposal of Tenant Belongings

One of two storage units a tenant was renting at an Extra Space Storage facility in Missouri was accidentally cleaned out due to a clerical error caused by the previous owners, Best Box.

Trisha Leach, the tenant, estimates she lost thousands of dollars in household items, some of which she considers priceless like her daughter's childhood belongings. The single mother, who had been struggling to make ends meet, rented the units while she stayed with a friend and looked for her own, less expensive place to live.

Leach and her daughter

When she rented the units, located at 64 State Hwy AA in Warrenton, Missouri, the facility was a Best Box. It was acquired by Extra Space Storage in November 2024. Leach says that when she tried to pay the December rental fee on the second unit she found that the account had been closed; when she visited the unit, she discovered it had been emptied out.

While state law requires a facility to reach out to customers multiple times before unit belongings are disposed, there was no record of Leach as the renter of that unit. A spokesperson for Extra Space Storage told reporters that the Best Box owners had recorded the wrong number for her second rental unit. When Extra Space took over, there was no indication that a customer was renting the unit so it was cleaned out and everything was thrown away.

A spokesperson for Extra Space Storage released this statement: “This is a very unusual situation and not typical during Extra Space Storage property transitions. Extra Space’s leadership team is actively working with the customer to remedy this situation.”

Leach says she appreciates the response but is still considering her legal options.