have a client that buys businesses that are going out of business and then sells the items on ebay at a huge mark up. He keeps his items in Storage that he rents. One day when he was unloading his truck filled with computer parts his truck driver backed into a pole that apparently had been installed without my client’s notice. This pole was completely visible, painted neon yellow and was about six feet tall. The problem is that when the truck driver was backing up, one of the landlord’s agents was directing him back and happened to be standing in front of the poll. The agent moved and the truck driver backed up right into the pole.

When the poll was hit, it split the concrete driveway causing the piping underneath to get a slight crack. The agent took the information about my client’s driver, took pictures and said it was his fault. He then told my client he would submit the paperwork to his boss so my client could be reimbursed for the damage to the truck. Unfortunately when he did submit it, he lied and said that he was standing next to the pole and my client received a demand letter for the damage to the pole.

The following week, because the pipe underneath was cracked, it rupture and all of the items in my client’s rented storage unit was destroyed.

How many issues can you find? Who is at fault? If you were the owner of the storage unit what would you do? If you were the owner of the company that rented the storage unit what would you do?