Abandonment?

[JillianKelly]

What is the name of your state?IN
When do possessions become abandoned? Our tennant has vanished! His major stuff is gone but there are a few items that are of value(tools and tool box ect.) left in house. He left message that said he was moving out last weekend and I guess he did. But he will not return any calls and I have no forwarding address. I'm guess he will not call because he owes money. i'm willing to forgive that just to have him gone. But we've got someone else interested in buying the home (we'd love to sell instead of rent) And we need to clean it up and repair things ASAP. What do you do with these things? Please help!

 

[JillianKelly]

And let me add that I do not wish to keep these things from the tennant or former tennant or whatever he is, Can I just move them out to store them or somthing also, can I go ahead and change the locks? We didn't go through the eviction process because he is the one that called and said he was moving out!!!!!

 

[south]

If he stated he moved on a certain date and he moved out then he is gone.

Keep recording..

If you are not sure if he is gone pin an abandonment notice on the door

As for his stuff you need to hold onto and send notice to his address if no forward address send a letter to his last known address your unit with proof of mailing stating he has X-amount of time (depends on your state normally around 18 days) to pick up his stuff, storage and handling fees may apply, if items are not picked up in that time frame landlord may disperse of as he wishes.

Run that up the flag pole it should fly

What is the name of your state?IN
When do possessions become abandoned? Our tennant has vanished! His major stuff is gone but there are a few items that are of value(tools and tool box ect.) left in house. He left message that said he was moving out last weekend and I guess he did. But he will not return any calls and I have no forwarding address. I'm guess he will not call because he owes money. i'm willing to forgive that just to have him gone. But we've got someone else interested in buying the home (we'd love to sell instead of rent) And we need to clean it up and repair things ASAP. What do you do with these things? Please help!

 

[Who's Liable?]

Read your LL/T laws VERY carefully in regards to how long and when you can store his personal belongings... The best thing to do as South stated is to send a CRRR letter to his last known address, if that is the apartment he abandoned, so be it... He can always claim to the judge that he never received your call! Here you have WRITTEN proof that you attempted to contact him... If it is returned (CRRR letter) DO NOT OPEN it as it contains evidence that you tried to contact him...

Some states allow you to charge the tenant for storage fees before he can retrieve his items... After an X amount of days, you can dispose of the items as you see fit...

I must stress that you need to follow the LL/T VERY carefully as if you do not, the tenant can sue you for the lost items!