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What to do..Tenant Surrendered Key

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mark1210

Member
What is the name of your state? TX

As mentioned previously I had a tenant who moved out and has failed to pay December's rent. Rent was due on 12/1/04. I received in today's mail her door key. There was no forwarding address, and no return address on the envelope. Using the key she surrendered I entered her premises to find a few things of hers still in the room. My question is do I still need to go through the hassle of eviction or not? What do I do with the property she has abandoned? The envelope has a post mark of Florida so I would assume she has moved out of state and I doubt a constantable would be able to locate her to serve her.

In order to mitigate my damages and get the room in re-rentable condition I have itemized her property and moved it to a storage area.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:


BL

Senior Member
Send her a letter. To the address she used at your rental property , or one she used if not there , if you know it ( Last known address ).

In that letter state ,that since she has not paid rent and surrendered her keys, you have considered her vacated , and you have put her belongings in storage ( state where they are stored ) , and if not retrieved by ( 30 ) days, you will consider them abandoned, and dispose of them as you wish.

sign and date it, and keep a copy for yourself.

If the letter comes back to you undeliverable, do not open it , but keep it for your records .

Re-rent your room/Apt.
 

mark1210

Member
Thank you. One other question. The lease contains the verbiage that a $20.00 late fee will be assesed per day that the rent is late. This has already exceeded $400.00. Would a court find this unresonable?
 

BL

Senior Member
mark1210 said:
Thank you. One other question. The lease contains the verbiage that a $20.00 late fee will be assesed per day that the rent is late. This has already exceeded $400.00. Would a court find this unresonable?

The envelope has a post mark of Florida so I would assume she has moved out of state and I doubt a constantable would be able to locate her to serve her.
And even if the Judge were to award you these damages, how do you plan on collecting on your Judgment ?

My advice . Re-rent ASAP , and as they say in business , you just have to eat a few . Forget it and move on .
 

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