Be Ready: Storage Law & Legal Preparation | Gabfocus | Self Storage Virtual Workshop

Gabfocus Episode 8: Be Ready: Storage Law & Legal Preparation

Our legal experts, Scott Zucker and Melissa Huff, break down how to navigate the CARES Act, PPP funding, evictions, lien sales, and employee liabilities as an operator during COVID-19. Panelists share best practices for understanding each state's legal restrictions and regulations dealing with tenants as well as the benefits of e-signature for rental agreements.

Moderators: Tommy Nguyen
Featured Speakers: Scott Zucker and Melissa Huff

Category: Legal
Focus: Owners and Managers
Aired: June 4, 2020
Duration: 1:16:12

Gabfocus Sessions

Gabfocus Sessions are weekly, virtual workshops for self storage owners, managers, and operators. Brought to you by the team behind Gabfest: StoragePug and MR Management.

Each session features hand-picked industry pros who will dive deep into relevant topics surrounding our industry, share best practices, and explore trends in the market. It's our hope that these sessions help you navigate your self storage business better during these uncertain times.

Want more tools for your managers? Join us on Gabfocus weekly on Thursdays.

Top Questions Answered in this session

What should I know about the CARES Act?
Are there any legal considerations to terminating a monthly rental agreement during COVID?
If an employee contracts COVID at work, what is the employers responsibility?
If a tenant books a unit online is one signature good?
In the age of e-sign, it’s difficult to make sure that the person you are renting to is really that person. What do we need to watch out for when doing online rentals?
What’s the policy for having physical copies of leases and copies of Driver’s Licenses? Can we store them digitally? How long do we need copies?

These are just a few of the questions answered during this session! Get your pen and paper ready!

Scott Zucker

Weissmann Zucker Euster Morochnik & Garber P.C.

Website: https://www.wzlegal.com/
Email: scott@wzlegal.com

Melissa Huff

MR Management & Consulting LLC

Website: https://Mr-mgmt.com
Email: melissa@mr-mgmt.com

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

"The best sell is no sell.” - Scott Zucker

"Our focus is communication with the tenants, making sure no one is dealing with a COVID-related issues thats causing a non-payment.” - Melissa Huff

"Our collection process hasn’t changed during this time, but our team is much more thorough than ever before with our notes for each tenant.” - Melissa Huff

“Every self storage tenant comes to you with their different situation, your right to work with them based on their individual circumstances is your right as a landlord.” - Scott Zucker

"One signature e-sign rental agreement or check boxes are acceptable for online leases.” - Scott Zucker

“Nothing has to be printed out or be a physical lease, but you still need to keep records for 4 years for statute of limitations.” - Scott Zucker

Resources Mentioned

Question of the Week

We asked our panelists: "What are new challenges to self storage we should anticipate and prepare for?"

“Being stuck with this pandemic for the foreseeable future, operators must adjust and take a different approach for hygiene, sanitation, and cleanliness. Customers will need to feel that level of comfort and safety when dealing with your facility.” - Scott Zucker

“If you are not already on the online rental bandwagon, you probably are now” - Melissa Huff

Gabfocus Takeaway

When dealing with the tenants during COVID-19, it is important to keep consistent and transparent communication as everyone’s situation is different. Do everything you can to avoid evictions and lien sales, but if you find yourself in that situation, seek out your state's recent legislation on the matter. As operators, there are great resources like Self Storage Association and SCORE.org to help you navigate operations during these times.