Joe DownsCEO & Co-Founder, Belrose Storage Group. Founder, Storage Moguls.

Why boat & RV leases are NOT like self storage

10 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this video, Joe Downs explains that using a generic self‑storage lease for a boat or RV storage facility creates critical legal gaps that surface during disputes. He contrasts the nature of the stored items: self‑storage tenants keep personal property, while boat and RV tenants store titled vehicles identified by hull identification numbers (HIN) or vehicle identification numbers (VIN). Because of this distinction, standard self‑storage lease provisions fail to address specific issues such as lien processes, damage disputes, and abandonment that are unique to titled vehicles, making tailored lease language essential for boat and RV facilities.

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Because if you're using a standard self-storage lease template for your boat and RV facility, you're going to have gaps. And in this vertical, those gaps tend to show up at the worst possible moments. So here's why that lease matters more in boat and RV than in self-storage. In self-storage, a tenant stores personal property. If something goes wrong, a lien process, a damage dispute, an abandonment, the legal framework is relatively standardized and pretty well understood. In boat and RV, a tenant store is a titled vehicle. A boat has a hull identification number. An RV has a VIN.