The Legal Aid Society sounded the alarm over nearly 175 of NYC’s rental storage units whose contents are to be auctioned off as financially-strapped New Yorkers remain in dire financial straits and can no longer afford to pay their storage bill, as reported by THE CITY.

Under New York state law, storage facilities are granted a lien on the belongings within them – allowing them to lock the units and auction off their content, rather than simply ceasing services to customers who are no longer able to pay.

Attorneys of The Legal Aid Society – who have received inquiries from many New Yorkers asking for help with storage payments – assert that a mandated pause on auctions would require either executive action from the governor or for the state legislature to modify the lien law that governs storage.

“It always strikes me as the added layer of cruelty that they’re homeless or just getting redomiciled or in a nursing home for an extended temporary stay and then they’re threatened with the possessions they have in the world being auctioned,” said Anne Callagy, Director of Government Benefits at The Legal Aid Society.