Storage Agreement a "Secured Debt"

[ApresMoi]

I am reading NOLO and trying to figure out how the storage rental unit should be dealt with in the paperwork for a Chapter 7.

The month to month contract (lease?) I signed with them makes it clear that if I miss a payment, after a specified period of time they can take my property (via a lien) and sell the goods at auction. Does their ability to do this turn my storage rental agreement into a secured debt? I think after only 15 days or so of being late, that's when they send out notice of intent to file a lien. A long time ago, due to a mixup with my ex as to who was going to pay for what, I got such a warning letter from them.

I would really prefer to keep them out of the BK altogether. Is that possible? I pay them month to month and am current, and plan to continue doing so, during and after bankruptcy (at which time I hope to be able to close out the storage facility with some of the freed up financial resources).

Issues such as these cause me to have second thoughts about filing pro se. Does anyone know? Thanks.

[ApresMoi]

I found this, which gives an insider's perspective on how self storage operators view/deal with BKs. The article is somewhat dated, but probably a lot of it still applies. It doesn't answer the questions I have though...about whether I need to involve the storage people in my filing. Sigh. Are they a 'creditor'? It's month to month. I know the trustee has to know about them though, as I have goods there that I have to reveal the location of when listing personal property.

http://www.insideselfstorage.com/articles/340/340_531feat4.html

[Bell30656]

I had a storage unit and asked my lawyer that question. He said that I didn't have to worry about listing it because it was month to month, paid in advance and thus not a debt. Now if you have a lease for a certain period of time that could be different.

[ApresMoi]

I had a storage unit and asked my lawyer that question. He said that I didn't have to worry about listing it because it was month to month, paid in advance and thus not a debt. Now if you have a lease for a certain period of time that could be different.

Perfect! Thank you.