Alternate Contact Initial Box on the AZSA Lease

by Richard Marmor, Esq.
AZSA Legal & Legislative Chair

Some managers seem confused about that initial box on the AZSA Standardized Lease to the right of the Alternate Contact section.

Alternate Contacts in General

They’re there for everyone’s benefit. From the tenant’s perspective, it’s another way to contact them in an emergency. From the operator’s point of view that alternate is there for two reasons. The first is obvious: it’s another way to find or contact the tenant in the event of a default. But the AZSA Lease provides a second, important set of reasons for you.

The Four Headaches

There are four tenant situations that regularly plague storage operators:

• The tenant is in jail.
• The tenant is dead.
• The tenant is on active military duty.
• The tenant is judged legally incompetent.

While we may have other measures we can implement when faced with some of these situations, the AZSA Lease provides a handy shortcut. The standard language in the lease says that if the tenant is subject to any of these situations, the alternate contact may have access to the rented space.

In fact, AZSA has a form that is free to members on its website which operators may use when faced with one of these situations. On it, the alternate contact declares that the tenant is in one of those situations. The operator can then rely upon that signed form to allow access to the space by the alternate. The operator should keep the signed form in the file just in case it turns out that the alternate lied and an irate tenant later shows up. (“See here on this paper your alternate contact swore you were in jail, and per the lease we let him have access to your space. If something is now missing, check with him...”)

The Initial Box

That initial box to the right of the alternate contact information section is an optional election the tenant may, but need not, make. By initialing that, the tenant is telling you that the alternate contact may have the same full access to the space at any time that the tenant could ordinarily have access.

What’s Access?

In this context, access means the right to enter the space, place content into the space, take content from the space, and yes, even take all the contents from the space. And if this requires having the lock cut off to gain entry, that’s OK, too. (Such lock cutting would be upon the same terms that would be imposed if the tenant needed a lock cut.)

Is the Alternate Then Like a Tenant?

No! The access accorded here is an accommodation for the benefit of the tenant, not for the alternate. Importantly, whether under one of the four special situations or under a lease with an initialed box, the alternate is not considered a tenant, nor may the alternate ever make any changes to the lease whatsoever. The AZSA Lease makes it clear that any access accorded to the alternate is for the benefit of the tenant, and that the alternate is not in the nature of a tenant nor entitled to any notice under the lease. (There’s nothing preventing you from sending notices to the alternate if you think they will help your situation, but nothing requires you to send them.)

Bottom Line

Having an alternate contact listed is thus a definite benefit for the storage operator. Operators should always require that one be provided.

[This article deals with a law related subject at a general level and I not intended for you to rely on. You should consult a lawyer before making a final decision in a situation involving any legal issue.]

Richard Marmor has been in the self-storage industry for over 30 years, as a facility owner and consultant. He was the founding president of AZSA and is its lobbyist at the Arizona Legislature, where he authored many of the self-storage industry’s laws. An attorney, Richard also created most of AZSA’s forms; he is a regular speaker at AZSA educational workshops around the state; and his articles appear regularly in the AZSA newsletter and website.