Renter Left Items Behind

[courtneyterry08]

The renter was told to leave the rental property by July 1. They did not leave until July 3 when the police were callled to help. The officers told them to have their belongings off the property by Friday morning. It is noe July 9 and no effort has been made. At what point can the owner of the home dispose of the items?

If their belongings are still there, how do you know they are really gone? You need to look up any abandonment statutes for your state and see if the conditions of those statutes (if any) apply in this case. Otherwise, you will have to file eviction against the people to remove their belongings. Please post your state and I can list the statute number. You cannot just go in and remove their things. You cannot just dispose of their things even if they did abandon the place.

Your other option is to ask a local LL's association if the courts recognize abandonment. (Some do, even if there is no written statute). Ask them what it entails. Normally it means the tenants must have disappeared longer than a week though. Many state statutes define it as 1) you have not been able to contact the tenants for at least 10 days and 2) the rent is over due, 3) the utilities are disconnected, 4) they have ignored posted notices, 5) they fail to contact you, 6) an inspection of the unit (after proper notice to enter is given) has shown no evidence of anyone living there, and that 7) the tenants do not respond to a notice of abandonment placed on the door for a week. You must document each step in the process. Even then, you must store their belongings for another 30 days to give them a chance to retrieve them. So plan on holding on to that stuff for a while yet.