A couple of weeks ago, I received a call with some unexpected news:
I think someone broke into the Garage. The door is open, items are missing, and it’s a mess.
That was a shock, and I immediately thought: What do I have to do if someone broke into my Garage?
This little thought started this blog.
Below you’ll learn about what I did and which might be helpful to you. Please keep in mind for my particular situation, that we are talking about a detached rented garage in an Apartment complex. However, it shouldn’t matter for most of the steps if it is an attached Garage on your property or a detached on a rented property.
Securing the Garage
Since the Garage was left open, I immediately checked if it’s still functioning and if I’m able to close it. Even if the burglar got in, you want to make sure you are able to operate the Garage door safely or are ready to lock it down. Try to close the Garage door; if the door stays open, chances are your neighbors or other people driving around might see what is in your Garage, which could always raise the interest in your property.
Inventory
What has been stolen? In my case, they took my brand new cordless 7 pieces toolset – 1.5 years old, and only one tool has been used once…, some other tools, a dumbbell, and “Let’s go to the beach and have fun”-equipment. Make sure to write everything down, and if you still have receipts for it, get the amount you paid for it since you’ll need it for a police report and a possible Insurance claim. Lucky enough for me, since I moved here recently and had to buy all that stuff new, I had all receipts on hand, which made the whole process of itemizing a lot easier.
Police Report
I called our local PD to file a police report. This is always important even if you think it is not worth it. Filing a report helps you with claims you might submit to your Insurance since they most likely want to know the case number. Usually and especially during COVID, the Police might not show up for a Garage break-in. Instead, they might call you to take notes and file the report with you.
That’s what happened in my case, and it was an easy process. Just make sure you got all the information about the stolen property and some specifics about the Garage. The office working with you on that case might ask you some simple questions like:
- When was the last lawful entry?
- When did you recognize that the door was open?
- Who was the last person?
And probably a couple more, depending on the incident. If you had any unique items stolen, be as specific as possible since these always stand out first. The whole report took only a couple of minutes. After that, the officer gave me a case number, which is good for the Insurance or for referring back if you need to provide more information.
Property Management or Neighbors
I’m a renter of an apartment in an Apartment Complex, and my Garage is a detached one. For any renter in a gated community, it might make sense to check with the community management and see if they have any camera footage of that area. Of course, I did that and asked if camera footage was available. Sadly, there was no related or usable footage for my Garage. However, it is always a good idea to at least check with them.
You might also want to ask them what they are doing to keep the community safe. Are all the entry gates working? Do they have any security guards patrolling the community at night? You can tell the quality of the management by how they respond to your incident. You shouldn’t feel like they left you alone with that situation, and if you do feel so, you might want to look for a different place or reach out to ownership.
Never underestimate your neighbors; they are very helpful and eager to help, so make sure to reach out to them as well. Maybe the video doorbell from your neighbor got triggered, or any other camera was able to catch the moment. While the Police might not consider your video evidence in every state, it’s worth asking the officer if this might help in your case.
Insurance claim
I called my Insurance to see if filing a claim makes sense. Here in Texas, the first claim might not raise your Home Owners or Renters Insurance but be aware of the deductible. After going through all the items and taking notes, my loss was around $900-$1200. That does not appear to be a high number, but hey, I paid for it. However, talking to the Insurance, they told me that I have a deducible of $500. So that didn’t make sense for me to file a claim in this case.
Improve the Garage access
Once you have everything done, you want to start improving access to your Garage. And this is the part where this blog begins.
Final
I hope this article helps you to get a better understanding of what to do if someone broke into your Garage. Break-ins happen, and they happen quite often. Most of the time, we might think, “It won’t be me” until it hits us. There is no way to tell if you’ll ever be a victim or not. The same happened to me; I never cared much about it since I always felt safe.
If you have any tips and tricks or want to reach out to me, feel free to use the contact form.