Eastern Iowans gamble on self-storage auctions

CEDAR RAPIDS - How much would you pay for an old television, a bed, a small table, a handful of kitchen chairs and several boxes that could contain goodies - or junk?

For Erin Petersen of Marion, the answer was the $5 cash she forked over Saturday at a self-storage auction in Cedar Rapids, where one person's delinquent payments could yield treasure for another.

“We got the best deal of all,” Peterson said, smiling about her new used kitchen chairs, while her sons Reid, 5, and Ross, 6, began to unpack a box of once-coveted Beanie Babies.

Petersen was one of about 20 people who spent late morning and early afternoon at self-storage facilities in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Palo in hopes of finding a gem among what often may look like abandoned junk.

It was the second time this year that Cedar Rapids Area Storage, owner of the three storage centers, auctioned off the contents of lockers rented by people who had not paid their fees for months - a practice made popular by cable television shows like “Auction Hunters” and “Storage Wars,” which each debuted in 2010.

How it works

Every state except Alaska has a law that allows such sales. The Iowa Self-Storage Facility Lien Act lets facility owners auction items left by renters who are more than 14 days late with their payments.

Randy Lucore, who helps run Cedar Rapids Area Storage, said the company makes little money from the auctions. Rather, he said, the events are a last-ditch effort to clear out space and recoup some of the money owed.

“Nine times of ten - or maybe closer to ten times out of ten - we don't get what we're owed,” he said.

Under Iowa law, storage companies can keep auction proceeds up to or equal to what they are owed, plus auction fees. Any overage must be offered to whoever rented the locker; if that person cannot be found, the extra money goes to the county treasurer.

Lucore said his company doesn't auction units until payment is at least 70 days late. Workers try to contact the delinquent renters, he said, but they often encounter incorrect home addresses and disconnected phone numbers.

Only then are local residents given the chance to bid on strangers' possessions.

On the scene

Minutes before each of Saturday's auctions, there was a buzz among the hunters as they eyed the items visible in the lockers and imagined what might be inside closed boxes.

That's the gamble bidders face - they rarely know what they are buying.

Stephanie Askew of Clarence found a PlayStation 2 amid the soiled mattresses, two old televisions and chipped wooden shelf for which she paid $15. It wasn't a rare find, but it made for a better deal, she said.

Michael Klein of Cedar Rapids found soiled furniture and pillows, along with cases of salsa and Alfredo sauce, in the lockerful of items he bought. But an antique table was worth the $11 cost and the effort required to haul everything away by Monday, he said.

But the gamble can backfire. That's what Kyle Gunsolly of Cedar Rapids said happened to him at an auction in Shellsburg. He said he paid $1,500 for a promising unit that housed boxes with labels like “Grandpa's Coins” and “1909 Cracker Jacks,” but, though the locker had a few decades-old baseball cards and some coins, most of the boxes were empty.

“You could clearly see it was staged,” said Tim Dains, owner of Absolute Auction Company, which has led many storage auctions.

Lucore said such cases have cropped up all over the country,

“We've seen just about everything pop up in our units - except dead bodies,” Lucore said. But bodies have been found in storage units elsewhere, he said.

“I've gone to the conventions - I've heard about it.”