tennant still owes rent and left stuff/unworking car behind

[ach111]

Hi,
My sister and I took over property management for our Dad to get rid of some tenants that were taking advantage of him. We served him with a thirty day quit, which he signed and agreed to at the beginning of May. He had not paid his may rent yet though. He was pushing his payments sometimes as late as 20 days each month! Hence, why we took over to get him out. Towards the end of May he called to tell us that he was going to be a few days late getting out. We agreed verbally that he could take the extra days to move out as long as he paid a prorated rent for the days he stayed over. By June 9th he was finally ready to give us the key and do a walk through at which time he agreed to give us the last months rent as well as rent for the 9 days he stayed over.
When we got there he did not have the money and stated that he wanted to talk to our father to "work something out" he felt like his security/cleaning deposit which was exactly one months rent should be able to be used as his payment for May. Notice he said nothing about the prorated days for July... He also had some items that were still at the home. some mattresses an old couch and a nonworking vehicle that he was going to have moved by the end of the week.
Well it is July 5th. No money, and the stuff is still there. We have called him 5 times and left messages, surprise he isn't answering his phone. Basically at this point we want his stuff out of there and to at least be paid for the 9 days that he stayed over. What legal action can we take without spending MORE time and money on this guy???
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[Friend In Court]

What state is this property in? That will determine the steps you need to take to get him out. Apparently you are going to have to give him a formal eviction notice in compliance with your state's laws and be prepared to go the route to get your money out of him and you need to comply with your state's laws regarding the property he has left. .

[ach111]

The tenant is out. They have been gone since june but, he is dodging us for the rent he owes for the 9 days he stayed past his 30 day notice and he still has some stuff there. There is a non-working vehicle that is fairly new (2004) but needs a new engine and tires. We were hoping to sell it to get some money back. I live in California and I have been reading up on the laws and unfortunately, this deadbeat is better protected then we are. I cant even sell his stuff to recoup some of my costs. Frustrating!!!

Just a suggestion...if you can catch up with him, offer to buy all of the stuff he left at the place for $5.00 and have him sign a bill of sale for any and all items left inside the house. You cannot do this with the car, because that involves the title, etc.

As for the vehicle, if it's in the street, it can be considered abandoned and you can call the local police to say it hasn't been moved for a while, they'll come out and tag it, then if it hasn't moved by the time they check back --usually 3 days-- they will put in an order to tow it.

DID you receive the KEYS? That's legal, I believe, for the end of his tenancy.

As for getting money owed, take him to court.

Count yourself lucky things aren't worse.