ASK CARA – AN EVERYDAY ADVICE COLUMN – Apr 2024

Cara Chalmers

Dear Cara,

I have been living in a rural community west of Calgary for about 7 years. Not long after my family and I left the city and moved to our acreage I hired a lovely cleaning lady to help me with the upkeep of our home. My husband and I both work and this cleaner specialized in working for families on rural properties.

She cleaned for us regularly every two weeks up until 2020 when the pandemic hit. At that point we mutually paused the cleanings as both my family and the cleaner were adhering to social distancing and other pandemic policies that were in place at the time. This was not an issue for me as our household seemed too busy with kids out of school and working from home for us to stay on top of keeping our home tidy.

I did stay in touch with the cleaner during this pause in the cleaning schedule and we continued in friendly manner with check ins and whatnot to assess when would be a good time to resume the earlier working relationship.

It was during this time that she reached out to me to ask if she could store some of her belongings in one of the sheds that are located on our acreage property. She identified to me that she was in the process of moving and needed a temporary place to store some of her boxes. I agreed to this and was clear that she was welcome to use one of our sheds (we were not using it ourselves) but that I could not guarantee the safety and security of her stored items given the nature of where we live ie: the potential for rural crime and/or damage from pests etc. The cleaner agreed that this would be fine and she was able to move her belongings into our shed not long after the initial conversation. I did not ask for any details or reasons about why she needed the no-cost storage space as I did not feel it was my place to pry into her personal life.

Cara, months went by and it became clear to me that I was not going to require a regular cleaner any longer due to changes in my own work situation that had transpired. I was home much more often and had reduced my working hours which led to a reduction in income. I was happy to take over the household cleaning myself. The cleaner understood these changes and she and I agreed that she could continue to store her belongings on my property regardless.

About a year ago I reached out to the cleaner to check in with her to see how she was doing and to gently remind her that her belongings were still in my shed, should she have plans to relocate them. I didn’t hear back from her. Even after many attempts to contact her via phone, text and on multiple email addresses, I have not heard a word from her in two years. I have even tried searching for her on social media, with no success.

My question is this: given that I have been wholly unable to contact this person and that she has not reached out to me in over two years, what is my continued responsibility in storing her boxes of belongings? We did not agree on a timeline for her use of said storage space. Do I continue to hang on to her personal items despite the lack of contact and can you think of any other ways for me to try and get in touch with her that I haven’t already considered?

Sincerely, Storage Stalemate

Dear Stalemate,

I continue to be amazed at the pandemic- adjacent conundrums that continue to linger, even 4 years after the onset of this massive event.

It sounds very much to me that this was and continues to be an informal arrangement. Meaning that no contracts for services were signed and you did not enter into any kind of commercial or legally binding agreement with this person. You have been doing her a favour and a generous one at that.

Regarding the question of what your responsibilities are, the answer is that you don’t have any responsibilities at this point. However, if you can continue to store these belongings, then I would suggest that you continue to do so with full knowledge that you are not responsible for any damage or property theft that may occur. On the other hand, if you require the storage space for your own needs then you are under no obligation to continue to house these boxes.

You have described a sincere and thorough attempt to contact this person, unfortunately to no avail. In addition to what you have already undertaken, my only suggestion would be to place an ad in a local classified (either in print or online) so long as you know the area that she was last residing in.

Reach out to this person one more time in the same ways that you have tried previously. Do this before making any decisions about removing her boxes from your property. Document the attempts that you have made to contact her, anything digital (text/email) will be easy enough to record. This will give you a paper-trail of honest due diligence should the need arise.

Anything could have happened to or in the life of this cleaning lady that may have caused her to go dark in her communication with you about your arrangement. There is a good chance that you may never regain contact with her and may never know what happened in this regard. You have held up your end of the bargain in good faith and must now proceed in a way that works foremost for you and your needs.