The front office at Silicon Valley Storage Solutions, also known
as Overland Self Storage, has been abandoned with a sign on the
door that reads,
”
Closed!!! This is now the banks [sic] property.
”
The front office at Silicon Valley Storage Solutions, also known as Overland Self Storage, has been abandoned with a sign on the door that reads, “Closed!!! This is now the banks [sic] property.”
Police have answered at least two calls from renters of the storage units on the 18000 block of Monterey Road. The callers were concerned that the self-storage facility was not secure. The steel gate that is normally locked and can only be entered by customers who know the electronic code, was locked open Tuesday, according to renters at the scene and police reports.
Paul Burnett, a resident of the Alameda area who rented four units at the facility, said he went to the facility Saturday and saw the office had been abandoned with “all sorts of obvious signs they have flown the coop.”
An opening in the exterior wall where it appeared a window should have been was covered with loose piece of plywood. The note on the door did not say to which bank the property now belongs, or list any contact information. Additional signs on the office’s windows indicated the building is “for lease.” The facility’s listed phone number was out of service Tuesday.
Burnett said the police suggested he remove his possessions from the storage facility.
“The place is wide open for looters,” Burnett said. He immediately rented a moving truck and unloaded all four of his storage units.
A family who had items stored at the self-serve facility was unloading the two units they rented there, and were moving their things to another self-storage company Tuesday morning.
Iasha Saldivar, 19, said her aunt discovered the office was not staffed and the gate open when she went to drop off her monthly payment Monday. Other family members said they noticed that padlocks on some of the other units were cut. She added that the front gate to gain access to two two-story warehouses containing the individual units is “never wide open” as it was Tuesday.
“It would have been nice if the bank had notified people (who to call),” Saldivar said.
Another customer, who declined to provide his name, said he planned to regularly check on the property and report suspicious activity as long as the gate remained open.
A report on the Morgan Hill police event log says a renter called Saturday to report that security cameras had been “ripped off” the property’s perimeter.
Burnett said he is concerned for renters who might live far out of town and don’t know their possessions are only secured by the padlocks on their individual units. He said he is also worried that the former owners have his checking account information which he provided and authorized them to withdraw his monthly rent payments.
