Barr v. Public Storage

26 Pa. D. & C.5th 257
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County
DecidedAugust 8, 2012
DocketNo. 10-55521
StatusPublished

This text of 26 Pa. D. & C.5th 257 (Barr v. Public Storage) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barr v. Public Storage, 26 Pa. D. & C.5th 257 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012).

Opinion

BURR, J.,

The plaintiff, Bryant Barr, has appealed from this court’s order granting the defendant’s, public storage, motion for summary judgment and dismissing, on grounds of untimeliness and with prejudice, the plaintiff’s complaint in this action seeking damages for breach of a self-storage rental agreement that allegedly caused water damage to the plaintiff’s personal property.

The plaintiff contended in the complaint filed with this court on January 5, 2011, pursuant to the defendant’s appeal from the decision entered in the plaintiff’s favor by the magisterial district judge who first heard the case, that unnamed owners of the defendant, public storage, located at 6330 Market Street, Upper Darby, PA, where plaintiff had stored his belongings in unit C-947, “refused to take responsibility” and should be held liable for $7,163.50 in damages and “cost” caused by flooding from a sprinkler system. (Id., Paragraphs 4-7).1 Appended to the complaint [259]*259is a statement from the plaintiff averring the following:

“On the 24th day of December 2005,1 enter [sic] my storage unit C-947 and all my belongings were wet. I notified the main office of my findings. I was informed that the sprinkler system froze and the pipes burst. I was told to write a list of everything that was damaged or destroyed. The list consisted of a table saw, miter saw, sawzall, king size bedroom set and an oak compact disk rack. The total damages were $7,163.50 including filing cost.” (Id.).

The television and television stand that had been pleaded in justification of $628.98 subsumed within the putative “$7,000” loss asserted on the face of the magisterial district court complaint had vanished.2 The defendant, [260]*260nevertheless, replied in its answer with new matter to the complaint that the non-party, “PS Illinois trust”, owns the storage facility and not the unknown “persons” that the plaintiff had contended. (Id., paragraph 2). The defendant listed defenses in new matter that included untimeliness pursuant to the applicable statutes of limitations, the failure to j oin necessary and proper parties, as well as the plaintiff’s intentional or negligent spoliation of the evidence said to support his damages claim, (Id., paragraphs 2, 7 and 9).

Appended as “exhibit A” to the defendant’s answer and new matter were the parties’ “rental agreement” executed on July 3, 2005, an “occupant information sheet”, and a “self-purchase addendum to lease/rental agreement” executed by the plaintiff on that same date that permitted the defendant to forward an eight dollar premium from each of the plaintiff’s regular rental payments to an insurer identified as “Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., P.O. Box 62430, Los Angeles, CA 90074-2430 Or by calling (677) 878-6730 ask for storage insurance program” for coverage in the amount of $2,000.00 (Id.). Prominent next to the line on which the plaintiff’s signature appears on this form is a boxed notice stating that “manager of this facility is not an insurance agent. Please do not address questions regarding the insurance to them. Call (677) 873-6730.” (Id.).

Plaintiff’s response to the defendant’s answer with new matter listed averments that he had filed a claim with [261]*261Willis insurance services of California on December 24, 2005 when the alleged loss had occurred but that the claim was never settled and was sold to Hertz claim management with whom “an agreement could not be settled.” (Id, paragraph l).3 Plaintiff additionally alleged that he had provided “pictures and proof of purchase to both insurance companies” of the loss caused by the defendant’s neglect. (Id, paragraphs 3-5). Plaintiff stated that the statute of limitations on his complaint for damages had been waived by the magisterial district judge who had heard the case. (Id., paragraph 2). Regarding the certificate of insurance from the carrier, plaintiff stated that water damage to his goods had been covered, and that he had routinely paid the eight dollar per month premium on the policy with his remittance of rent for the storage unit to the defendant. (Id, paragraphs 6-8).

The plaintiff further claimed that the defendant owner “didn’t act in good faith, which cause [sic] the loss and/or [262]*262damages to the personal belongings of the plaintiff.” (Id., paragraph 9). Appended as “exhibit A” to the plaintiff’s response to the defendant’s answer with new matter was a copy of the decision from the magisterial district judge, dated November 24, 2010, awarding the plaintiff $7,000.00 in damages and $163.50 in costs incurred in filing the complaint.

On May 18, 2011, the defendant filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings in which it claimed that the plaintiff’s commencement of this action on October 20, 2010 with the filing of a complaint with the Delaware County Magisterial District Court alleging damages that purportedly had occurred on December 24, 2005 clearly exceeded the four year statute of limitations for breach of contract pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5525.4 (Id., pp. 1-3). The defendant added that the plaintiff’s contentions of the defendant’s negligence being the cause of his losses clearly exceeded the applicable two year statute of limitations, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5524, an issue that is largely undisputed in the record. (Memorandum of law in support of the defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, p. 5, fn. 1). The defendant further asserted that the plaintiff’s claims of a failure of settlement with the insurer were irrelevant to the suit against the defendant storage company. (Id, 5). The defendant alleged that plaintiff’s assumption that [263]*263the magisterial district judge had “waived” the statute of limitations for breach of contract is unfounded in the record, and that the decision was the basis for the instant appeal, nonetheless. (Id., pp. 6).

The plaintiff contended in his response to the defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings that his having “dealt with two insurance companies when the claim was set forth...causes the claim to exceed the four year statute of limitations.” (Id., Paragraph 3). In answer to the defendant’s contention that his complaint was filed out of time, the plaintiff replied:

“Denied. Plaintiff received , the run around from two different insurances [sic] when he tried to collect on damages. The first insurance company Willis insurance services of California, Inc[.] received all the evidence from the claim and never awarded the plaintiff for his damages. Plaintiff made countless phone calls only to talk to a recording. No one ever returned plaintiff’s calls. Three years later, plaintiff’s claim was sold to Hertz claim management. Hertz claim management informed plaintiff that they had no record of his claim and plaintiff had to prove that he was currently renting a storage unit at public storage. All of evidence was lost and it took plaintiff some time to gather all the information and documents. Plaintiff submitted a new claim but no agreement could be reached.” (Id., paragraph 15).

Here again, the plaintiff neglected to mention that the purported “impasse” between himself and Hertz claim management had been reached in March of 2009, or nine months before the four year statute of limitations on his [264]

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Bluebook (online)
26 Pa. D. & C.5th 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barr-v-public-storage-pactcompldelawa-2012.