Is it legal for a storage facility to deny access to a unit and then auction its contents?

If I had a storage unit paid until the end of the month, and with 5-7 days left remaining in my last month as I was in the process of emptying the unit before the end of the month. And the door on that day will not open, and it is confirmed with photos of damages to the door and screenshots of text messages from the manager that they are aware of the attempts to break in. Then was it legal that on the day the repairs to the door were completed and the door could again be opened, that they disabled my code to the gate and would not allow me on site to A. retrieve my property, B. determine if anything was missing or damaged from break-ins, file a police report and in turn an insurance claim. But instead, due to my insistence they owed me a week of access to my belongings, they insisted I owed them for what was not the next month. They instead added late fees and additional fees, auctioned my belongings and sent me a bill for the difference. Was this legal?

I believe there are such agreements in my email from initially writing it.

I did communicate the concerns to both the call center as well as the on site manager, who told me she did not possess the ability to override and provide me with the code. She told me that if I would like I could speak to her manager. At the time I did not pursue it, and before I could, I received text messages from her manager reiterating that she could not. Eventually I wrote to him and he called me. He seemed very understanding when I mentioned a case study I read conducted by [business name redacted] and a third party that happened to take place around the same time as when my 24 hour access gate codes randomly stopped working for the night, and simultaneous alleged break-ins. He interrupted me and said "oh someone just walked into my office, I'll have to call you back" and never did, nor did he respond to any of my calls, voicemails, or texts again, other than once when I tried from a different number and he again began to respond until I explained who I was and stopped responding.

Yes, which I would understand had that particular month, April of 2023, been intended to be the last month, but I had never intended on my belongings being there for May.

For two reasons:

1. I just rented a house and got the key the end of March, and
2. I lost my job the 3rd week of April and knew I had no income and couldn't pay for May. I was already freaking out about losing my job, leaving my spouse, moving an hour away, enrolling my kids in private school, and suddenly didn't have a job and only had mattresses on the floor because everything else was in storage.

The call center wouldn't tell me yes, they would beat around the bush. The manager avoided the answer prior to the fix, and on the exact day I got the message the door was fixed, I received an automated message my code had been deactivated. All I wanted was the 5 or so days I was denied access to in the month I had paid for, to get my things out.

I also was told the police were notified, but when I contacted the authorities, my unit number was not one of the units that was reported. To be clear, yes the door wouldn't open, but the full side was off the track and I was able to reach in and remove things. Had I been braver I could have climbed in, but I was sort of scared someone could be in there, because it's not uncommon, and I was alone.

Well, there are a lot of things about that place that make no sense, and I totally get it seems like I'm full of it, but here is the thing: when I first came back to town that first week of April, my unit was paid for a few months in advance, and yet my lock had been cut off and one of theirs was on it instead so I couldn't get in.

When I called the call center they confirmed it was an error. The manager was supposed to meet me and give me a lock, but she wasn't going to be around and I was going to have to wait a few hours and come back, so I left. While I was gone she showed up and took her lock off, left my unit unlocked, and left a brand new lock with a key in a package that had been cut open there, for anyone. Technically someone could have had a copy of the key, but I didn't complain.

There were also rumors on social media that there had been so many break-ins of specific things, such as someone put a dirt bike in storage and the first night it was there it was stolen. People assumed it was someone telling someone what was in what units. I really didn't have anything of value, but I also only believe she told me of the break-in because I think she was reactive or defensive. I saw the damage to the door and I messaged her and asked her if perhaps she had done that damage trying to get the door open after I complained, and she immediately jumped to saying she did not do that and the authorities already knew of the break-ins.

They denied me access, and I confirmed with the insurance and police that there was never a report filed for my unit, almost as if by not allowing me into the unit it prevented me from filing a claim or confirming theft, if that in fact was the case.

How do I put a price on things like my only framed photo of my mother, who was murdered 25 years ago? In my defense, I was unaware my spouse had packed it in our belongings.

But it was, and it's gone now. I would have never put something like that in storage, but I just don't know how to put a dollar amount to that, or if I even could or should. Or the year my kids lived in an empty house with a bed and one nightstand we ate dinner off of for months, no couch, no washer dryer, the cost of laundromats, etc.

Is there a template for how one adds this type of stuff up, or is it limited to only the monetary value of the item?

To be honest, I feel like the fact that particular item was even in a storage unit makes me sound irresponsible and of questionable judgment at best, combined with the fact that I lost the storage unit for a reason related to non-payment. Most people would have caved and just spent the extra months' storage fees to gain access to their belongings, but there were other outside factors occurring simultaneously. I almost feel like mentioning the photos does more against me than for me, but it's still unbelievably disappointing.