A tenant says Public Storage has not helped resolve her complaints about mold-damaged belongings at its Royal Oak facility, and the company did not respond to WDIV’s email inquiry, according to a WDIV Local 4 investigation by Kyla Russell published Sunday, Oct. 11, and updated Monday, Oct. 12. The complaints follow similar reports at a second metro Detroit location.
Mother Brittany Bacinski told WDIV she stored her family's furniture, baby blankets and children's first toys in a climate-controlled unit over the summer while the family stayed on Lake Michigan. She chose the climate-controlled option because it cost only slightly more than an outdoor unit and she wanted to protect her belongings from heat.
When she returned at the end of September, she said she found mold covering her possessions.
"When I was peeling back and finally uncovering things, I noticed there was this white mold over everything," Bacinski told WDIV. She said she didn't realize it was mold at first, but found it covering the furniture as she dug deeper. She said she was sneezing heavily.
Bacinski said other renters in her section of the facility also reported mold on their belongings.
WDIV reports locked office doors
Bacinski told WDIV she emailed Public Storage, spoke to the general manager and submitted multiple claims. She said those contacts had not resolved her complaints.
WDIV emailed Public Storage on Thursday, Oct. 8, and received no response. When Russell and Bacinski visited the Royal Oak facility on Sunday, Oct. 11, Russell reported that the office doors had been locked. Russell reported that a worker had been visible inside moments earlier before the doors were locked.
Second facility in weeks
The Royal Oak complaints surfaced after WDIV aired a Sept. 23 report on a similar mold problem at a Public Storage facility in Brownstown Township. In that case, Russell spoke with more than a dozen affected tenants. One Brownstown Township tenant, Stephanie Campbell, said she lost at least $15,000 in belongings, including items belonging to her late fiancé.
A group chat of impacted tenants at the Brownstown Township facility had 16 members, Campbell told WDIV. WDIV also reported difficulty obtaining answers from the company in that case.
WDIV did not give a dollar estimate of Bacinski's losses. She told WDIV she wants the company to compensate renters for the value of their damaged belongings.
