A woman went to a storage facility in person to check on her late father’s safe, and a staff member told her the unit had been auctioned

A woman says her late father’s belongings, kept in a storage unit she shared with a childhood friend, were auctioned off without her knowledge. MK, who posts on TikTok as @lovemk.xoxo, says she only learned what happened after visiting the storage facility in person.

The story came to light through The Daily Dot, and her September 1 video has drawn tens of thousands of likes and thousands of shares. According to MK, a staff member told her the unit had been reassigned to a new renter in May 2025, after its contents were auctioned for non-payment in March 2025.

MK moved from California to Houston in 2020 and relied on a childhood friend named Ashley as her main contact in the city. After a breakup in September 2024, she made plans to return to California. Ashley offered MK space in her existing storage unit, where MK kept her furniture and a safe containing her late father’s belongings. The two split the bill through December 2024, and MK was to take over the full payments starting in January 2025.

She says she never missed a payment

MK claims she paid in full every month through February 2026. That month, she says, Ashley told her she could no longer pay and returned MK’s payment, prompting MK’s visit to the facility. According to MK, Ashley later claimed she may have mistakenly spent MK’s payments on a different storage unit she also rented. MK said she found that explanation hard to believe, given more than a year of steady payments.

She began the process of suing Ashley over the loss, which she says included belongings of her father’s she couldn’t put a price on. MK said the production team behind Judge Judy later reached out after finding her case in court filings, offering to cover her travel and lodging, but Ashley declined to participate.

One commenter was surprised the show contacted her, saying they thought Judge Judy used actors “for entertainment.” Another wrote that Ashley should be “held accountable,” while a third asked why MK didn’t rent her own unit but still said Ashley was “dead wrong.”

In Texas, self-service storage facilities follow Property Code Chapter 59, which gives a facility a lien on all property in a unit for unpaid charges. After written notice of a claim, a facility can advertise a sale if the tenant does not pay within 14 days, and a good faith buyer at auction takes the items free of the previous owner’s claims.

The video spread amid another viral account of a handshake job offer falling through. Ashley’s full identity has not been confirmed, and she could not be reached for comment.

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the account, as it is based solely on @lovemk.xoxo’s video.