Man Finds Safe Containing $7.5M Inside Storage Unit He Bought For $500

The dream of a lifetime Placing the final bid that ultimately won the contents of a storage container that would become the dream of a lifetime or the ultimate nightmare When a man uncovers what really lies inside his container? He's shocked and when the police showed up at his door hours later. He wasn't ready thrill of the bid He was just getting comfortable with bidding on storage containers that were on auction Spending money that he didn't have was a huge gamble when you have no idea what's inside But there were so many stories out there about people striking it rich Even if some people finding whole classic cars and driving off into the sunset All good so far So far he'd been lucky managing to sell the contents for just a little over what he'd paid for the entire lot But it was a lot of work and a lot of time going through someone else's junk Sorting cleaning and then finding the right buyer He was almost at the end of his rope if there was nothing big in this one. He was done Standing the crowd Joe stood outside the container with about 15 to 20 other people eager to rubberneck what was inside the 5 by 15 unit 75 square feet These were too big to get a good look inside. However, because they could store the contents of a one-bedroom apartment Ideal for furniture including a couch chair and a small dining set sporting equipment bicycles business merchandise Not ideal for glancing inside and spending hundreds of dollars on Win it or lose it The bidding was fun. Not exactly what you see on TV, which is high drama shouting pushing screaming in general mayhem But definitely fun, especially when he got into a bidding war with someone it felt good to win and he warned himself Not for the first time that he would stick to his budget. Don't spend what you can't afford to lose He didn't want to learn the hard way getting carried away But he just couldn't seem to help himself this time around the container was packed tight with furnitures and other goodies He wanted to look at closer and some annoying woman behind him kept upping his bid It started at $100 a hefty starting bid, but the container was awfully full He bet she upped it a little he bet again and so it continued how long did this go on coming back down to earth $350 in and he was adamant. He would be the winner $400 and she still hadn't given up but neither at he for 50 for 60 for 70 Finally the bid settled on $500. He was shattered and shaking as Reality returned he realized exactly what he'd done. There'd better be something amazing inside that box. He'd won buried treasure Everyone but a few drifted away from the site now that a winner had emerged They'd lost interest in the contents because they'd not won anything themselves But if you stayed around to watch the new owner enter the small building They only wished they'd been the ones to win it when they saw what he found Better be worth it Joe slowly walked into the 5 by 15 unit It was packed full of old furniture, but enough of a gap between existed for him to walk between the items He felt sweat prickle the back of his neck and forehead the furniture alone wouldn't cover the high price He laid out for this unit. There'd better be something amazing and he began looking No way in It didn't jump out at him as it would have in a movie After all it was just a dull gray container lying on the floor next to a chest of drawers But Joe knew what a safe looked like without any fancy CGI to help him He called up his friends to come out and help him open the safe. Even if he looked all day He doubted he'd find a key breaking the lock One power drill later and they were drilling deep into the lock to force it open and what they found was beyond belief Taking the lid off the opening. He was gobsmacked by all the bills lying right at the top $50 bills in huge stacks He literally fell over from pure shock getting to his feet he started pulling out one after wad of cold hard cash unforeseen dilemma But all things were not going to be peaches and cream for Joe and his huge find Barely two hours into his discovery. There was a knock on the door and soon men in uniforms were swarming all over the container Just what had he gotten himself involved in he wondered it could have been anything I mean just who has this much cash just squashed in a safe all over social media Joe realized that in his exultation He'd sent photos to his girlfriend and also uploaded the photos of the contents of the safe to pretty much every social media site No wonder the police were here He still hadn't been able to count all the cash, but he knew it was enough to roll in So far he was up to a million dollars. He dragged himself away to talk to one of the officers waiting for him All in all it was seven and a half million dollars stashed away in a few safes around the containers Everything from nickels two hundred dollar bills and pink slips for cars There was just one gigantic problem The original owner had gotten wind of the find and had hired some top-notch lawyers to get back his fortune Joe was in trouble threats Everything started moving extremely quickly after the police arrived Joe got a call from the lawyers telling him in no uncertain terms that he must return the money But that he could keep six hundred thousand dollars as a finder's fee Joe had some quick thinking to do the law on his side After consulting with his friends Joe learned that in the state of California Once a unit had been sold the contents were no longer owned by the delinquent tenant He had full rights to keep anything in the unit after all he'd purchased it fair and square But the lawyers were not going to back down that easily How bad would it get? Thinking they were doing Joe a service. They upped the finder's fee to 1.2 million dollars, and they were playing hardball Who knew what these people were capable of? Joe began wondering just how someone forgets seven and a half million dollars in a delinquent storage rental not someone good It seemed but how bad would things get? returning a fortune So would he only get 1.2 million? That's a huge amount of money in anyone's book, but still not quite like the huge figure He had just felt in his hands while unpacking wad after wad of money He didn't like the fact that he was being strong-armed, but there was also the moral dilemma It was now his money, but he didn't do anything to earn it Perhaps he should give it back. The thought was not sitting well with him a fair deal After much deliberation and amongst near threats Joe decided that splitting the money straight down the middle would be a fair split After all the now previous owners had left the container unpaid for for more than a couple months in fact almost a year Without responding to the letters sent by the store owners and that debt was exactly why the auction had happened a Storage owner says I don't really make much money out of auctions. It's to try to cover our expense 90% of the time I don't cover my losses One unit may have cost me $600 and the person bids at $400 So my revenue still suffered a loss an unpaid unit does not make any money The sooner the delinquent tenant can be moved out the sooner a paying tenant can move in