When to clean out abandoned apartment

We have an apartment that has been abandoned. The tenant changed the electricity back over to our name the first part of November. We were unaware of that until we recieved the electric bill. They never paid rent for November. We gave them a pay or vacate notice. We recieved a call from one of the former tenants wanting to come and get what was left in the apt. Since it was abandoned we changed the locks. They said they were coming on a certain day but never showed up nor called. It has been several days now. We have to get the apt. cleaned and repaired in order to rent it. One of the tenants called and wanted off the lease as they had already moved but we can't take them off the lease. So, we do know that they have moved out. How soon can we go in and clean the apt. out? We need to do it asap so we can get it ready to rent.

Thanks!

[OHlandlord]

Have they returned the keys to the unit? If not, you should not have changed the locks yet. You did not receive possession of the unit from them or the court. Some states have a law on abandoned property, some do not. Please post your state and I can tell you if your state has a law that addresses it.

When there is a law on abandonment, there are usually specific steps that need to be taken: documentation of non-payment (copy of pay or quit notice); an inspection of the unit with 24 hour prior notice posted; documentation of abandonment (photos of lack of possessions/bed/food, notices of utility disconnects, etc.); documentation of attempts to reach tenants by phone/mail/or notices left at unit; notice of abandonment left on door to unit (stating abandonment will be declared within X days if not contacted); etc. The law must be followed as it specifies exact procedures to legally declare it abandoned. These steps usually allow a tenant to contact you to state they have not abandoned the unit (and assert their tenant rights). If this happens, you continue to evict through the courts.

If your state does not have a law on abandonment, you need to find out if the local courts recognize abandonment and what their requirements are. If none exist, you need to go through eviction proceedings to receive possession of the unit, then sue all the former tenants in small claims court for the money they owe (rent until you lawfully receive possession, advertising if they broke a lease, damages to the unit, legal fees, etc.).

Going in and changing the locks before you receive possession is not encouraged. Just failing to pay rent or having the electric disconnected is not enough to declare abandonment in most places. You usually have to also be able to prove that no one is living there through an inspection (showing they have no food, no TV, no bed, most person possessions are gone, etc.). You also have to give the tenant (by posting) a notice to allow them to assert their rights (such as the notice described above). In this case, it doesn't look as if the tenant is going to sue you over this, but it has happened. Tenants go off and leave a place - don't pay the rent, left utilities get disconnected, then try to come back after a period since the LL has not evicted them. When they can't get in, they can sue the LL in court for an unlawful eviction (changing the locks).

Please post your state and I can direct you to the law on abandonment there. Then you can at least cover the documentation they require (to CYA) and prevent any possibility of a suit. Once this is done, you can go in, remove the items to storage (most states require that you store removed items for 30 days), and prep the unit to re-rent.

It is in Missouri. She has already informed us that she has moved out and even came with the police to remove some of her stuff to avoid trouble with the roommate. He has been gone for several weeks and when she called, she said the stuff left was hers. We had already given them a pay or vacate notice around the 6th of the month of November. They had the electricity changed back to the apartments name. They already were not paying rent so I know we would have had next to nil getting them to pay the bill so to me, that is abandoment. There is a chance we may never hear from her again.

[OHlandlord]

Unfortunately, what would seem to be abandonment to you or I (in using common sense!) is not always enough to define abandonment. Like I said before, in the eyes of the law, not paying their rent or turning the electric off is not always abandonment. You said she stated she was leaving, but there was a roommate (co-tenant/BF) still there? Both, or all tenants, must abandon the unit before abandonment can be declared. Not just one. If the other stays unlawfully, you must evict all tenants on the lease (even if one has already left). Joint tenants are jointly and severally liable for ALL TERMS of the lease, including vacating the premises. If the BF was still there when she left, she was still responsible for the lease, just as he was. And neither returned their keys. Not good. Plus the fact that you don't know for sure if the items left there were hers or his. You only have her word on that. He may claim different.

I assume this was a BF-GF break-up, right? When this happens, I have the leaving tenant sign something saying that THEY are out (she can sign it and you use her signature as his representative, just as it is when she writes the rent check to you) and that I can dispose of anything left behind. This way if the stuff was his, he can't come after me, but can sue her since she told me to get rid of it. Otherwise, no one is removed from the lease and she remains responsible for it as long as he or his things are there.

Your state does have an abandonment statute. Look up MO Revised Statute 441.065 and read through it thoroughly. Follow whatever procedure is outlined there to CYA and declare the place legally abandoned. I wish abandonment was easier on us LLs. You may never hear from him or her again, but CYA just in case you do. Penalties for an illegal eviction (which is what changing the locks and cleaning out the unit without court permission or official abandonment declaration) can be 2 to 3 x the rent level or actual damages (you pay the rent at a new place for the tenant). Too steep to guess at. CYA just in case you do hear from him again. Good luck! Hope it rents again soon.

[ajnid]

This is a sticky issue and I have a similar problem except the tenant left a note taped to the door that she was vacating the premises on a set date and time. At that time we went into the unit and found that she had left several large items of furniture. By the way I took a camera to document what we found. I photographed the fact that she had taken everything except the furniture.

During this inspection we found another note, addressed to us also by the way, that was dated earlier saying she was going to sublease the unit. This was a breach of her lease. On this note was a phone number to the person she was supposedly subleasing to. I called both her and the sublessee and neither returned my calls.

Although I did not receive the keys I changed the locks, but left a notice on the door that I would give them a new key if they had not abandoned the unit. At least I would then have some idea of who might be moving into my unit without my permission.

I had added an abondonment clause in my lease, because Idaho does not address abaondoment and she signed this clause and the lease, so in 21 days I can dispose of her belongings

[OHlandlord]

Ajnid, Idaho does have a clause addressing abandonment. You can find it at Idaho Code 6-311C . Hope this helps.

[ajnid]

Hi OH

The statue you gave me relates to restitution after you have gone to court and won. It is a writ of restitution and has to be issued by the judge. In Idaho you file for Unlawful Detain and include a writ of assistance and a writ of restituion and when the judge awards the unlawful detain he will then sign the writ of restituion and writ of assistance. This way if the tenant still does not leave you call the sheriff and they have to move him because the judge has ordered it.

There is nothing about abandoment in the statues. I have them all printed. As you can tell there are only about 20 books and they contain all the statues in Idaho.

[OHlandlord]

ajnid, sorry. The statute listed above is the only one listed in my book for abandonment. When I pulled it up a blank UD form came up. You apparently must file a UD to regain possession of the unit, hence that statute is listed for use in abandonment. Hope you regain possession soon.

You may want to check local statutes (sometimes there is a local -city or county- statute on abandonement). You may also want to check with a local LL asociation for case law that set a precedent on abandonment. If there is one, they should be able to tell you the criteria for determining abandonment and the procedure uses.

One thing we have done here is to write a definition of abandonment into our leases and have tenants initial that they agree to that specific definition. That way we can retake possession without going through the court since the tenant agreed to it at signing. Good luck.

[ajnid]

Hi OH

I really appreciate the effort you have gone to in helping with this. Our town does not have anything on abandonment either. I have written an abandonment clause for length of time 14 days with unpaid rent due then a 7 day notice posted. Then after that they give me permission to dispose of anything left in any way I chose. I have them sign this section of the contract also. This state also does not address what you have to do with abandoned property except what is kept in a storage facility.

I guess my quandry with this particular person is that she gave me written notice she was quiting the premises, but then left couch, chair, table and some miscellaneous property. So I am wondering if this is an abandoment issue and do I have to wait the 21 days or can I move ahead. I really do not want to have to transport and store her property somewhere else.

Its nice not to have alot of laws on the books, but sometimes it can be frustrating also.

I have read several other threads on this site and I really thing your advice is helpful and reasonable in all cases.

I will be recommending this site to others.

[OHlandlord]

ajnid, you may want to add to your abandonment clause. Most states abandonment clauses go well beyond just unpaid rent for a period. Most have the unpaid period of rent, but then go beyond it to include clauses like,

"- The tenant fails to respond to notices sent by the owner or local government offices and delivered by the US mail or left on the front door (a legal way of posting notices here).

- The tenant fails to respond to phone calls or telephone contact numbers are disconnected or not in service.

- The owner has made a physical inspection after proper notice to enter to verify occupancy by the tenant or lack thereof.

- The owner has notified the tenant by posting a written notice of abandonment on the door to the unit. If the tenant does not respond within 7 days to notify the owner that the unit has not been abandoned, then the unit will be deemed abandoned after this period. In the event the unit is demed abandoned and the tenant has failed t respond to any attempts to contact them, the parties agree that the owner may seize possession of the premises, including the contents. It is furthermore agreed that any personal possessions left on the premises after vacating in any manner may be disposed of without further notice to the tenant."

This shows you have made numerous attempts and ways of contacting them before you declared it abandoned. It shows you did an inspection to prove abandonment. It shows that you gave them a chance to contest the abandonment decision. Without this, a tenant could just leave on vacation for 2 weeks and absent-mindedly forget to pay his rent before he left. He would come back to an abandoned apartment. Consider adding some of these to your description. Also, make sure you document the above (attempted phone calls, copies of notices sent, inspection report & photos, etc.)