Tennessee Court Upholds $57,200 Verdict Against Storage Firm Over Fake Security Claims

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Court of Appeals has upheld a $57,200 judgment against Posey Storage Solutions and its owner, Tim Posey, after a couple discovered two leased units stripped bare behind intact padlocks.

Nathan and Devan Dickey won $33,500 in compensatory damages alongside $23,700 in attorney's fees and legal expenses following an appeal by the facility operator. The appellate court affirmed that Posey committed fraudulent misrepresentation, gross negligence, and theft-related conversion, while breaching the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. The ruling closes a seven-year legal battle triggered when dummy surveillance cameras and secret master keys left the couple's possessions defenseless.

The dispute began in December 2019.

Preparing to sell their house and relocate, the Dickeys sought a secure facility to store their entire household inventory. During initial negotiations, Posey pointed directly to exterior surveillance cameras mounted across the property, assuring the couple he personally patrolled the grounds three to four times each day. He then sold them two specialized disc locks for $10 apiece, pitching them as tamper-resistant hardware that bolt cutters could not penetrate.

Yet Posey concealed a critical detail: he held a master key to both padlocks.

Vanished Heirlooms and a Broken Crockpot

Cross two adjacent units, the couple packed their lives away. Devan filled one bay with inherited heirloom furniture, a mattress, and irreplaceable Christmas keepsakes passed down from her grandmother. Nathan packed the second bay with specialized commercial trade gear—professional welding rigs and industrial shop equipment valued at approximately $28,350.

Nathan returned to the compound in November 2020 to collect a welding hood. When he rolled up the corrugated steel door, the unit stood empty.

Every piece of heavy machinery was gone. Only a stray folding table and an abandoned crockpot sat on the concrete slab.

Nathan alerted local law enforcement and inspected Devan’s adjacent unit, which appeared undisturbed with its lock firmly secured. Weeks later, the couple returned to transfer the remaining household freight into moving vans. When they opened the second padlock, they found Devan's unit had suffered the identical fate. Thieves had cleaned out the entire inventory—sparing only shattered Christmas ornaments and a broken blanket ladder.

Fake Cameras and Ignored Complaints

When confronted with the initial break-in, Posey promised he would review the facility's security recordings immediately. He floated suspicions that one of his own contracted maintenance workers might be implicated in the theft.

No video footage ever materialized.

Posey skipped a scheduled investigative walkthrough with the couple, stopped answering phone inquiries, and severed contact. Court proceedings later exposed that the cameras mounted around the facility were dummy units that had never recorded a second of footage. Investigators also discovered that Posey routinely permitted an unsupervised worker full access to the master keys that unlocked customer units.

During the bench trial, two former customers—Ann Harrod and Cynthia Sarapata—took the stand to testify that their belongings had also vanished from the site without explanation or assistance from management. Municipal police logs entered into evidence substantiated the pattern, revealing recurring theft and burglary complaints at the facility spanning 2015 through 2021.

The Contractual Shield Collapses

To evade liability, Posey pointed to an exculpatory clause buried inside the standard rental contract, which claimed the facility held no responsibility for goods lost to theft or fire.

The appellate bench dismissed the defense.

Beyond failing to plead the contractual defense properly in initial court filings, Posey could not lean on small-print disclaimers to immunize deceptive trade practices. Writing for the court, the panel emphasized that exculpatory clauses cannot shield commercial businesses from gross negligence, reckless indifference, or intentional misconduct. Statutory rights granted under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act cannot be waived away with a standard rental signature.

Following the appellate judgment affirming all monetary awards, the case returns to the trial docket for final disposition and enforcement of the $57,200 payout.