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Tenant moved out and left unwanted items in home.

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J

J&P11

Junior Member
A tenant who hadn't paid rent for months moved out after getting approved to public housing. She left lots of damage including a crushed counter top, a kitchen cabinet door hanging, and a bedroom door completely off. Also several 2" x 8" large gouges in the hall floor. The place is a mess and I'm pretty sure she hadn't cleaned the bathtub or toilet ever. I doubt I'll get a cent of the $3000 I'm owed. When I asked about rent and late fees she would bring up Covid and say she was working on getting some rent money from a charity. Which she was able to get some. But once they found out that her not paying rent was in no way connected to Covid the charities and churches had no funding program for her case. She had been in school for years and lived on financial aid. She paid her rent months ahead each time she got a check. After graduating (masters degree....she is in her late 40's) she decided she had too much anxiety to actually get a job, so she's been trying to get on disability for the past two years. All that is background. The issue I have is besides the mess and damage to the home is that she texted me that the people who said they would take her queen size bed and two large heavy tv's didn't get them and she implied that she just didn't know what to do about the rest of the items she left or about her outside cat. I went over a few days ago to find she'd still not moved the bed, or the heavy tube tv's. Nor has she left all the keys. The door was left unlocked and a neighbor was told that the key was in the pantry ( she didn't tell me,though, and all she had left in the pantry was a back door key). What do I do now? I shouldn't have to pay someone to haul out her mess. Her $200 deposit wouldn't even cover cleaning the floors and appliances. If I thought I'd actually get my owed rent, I'd file a small claims suit. But I don't think I can file a claim against her possibly getting disability payments in the future. Do I need to file some sort of papers to be allowed to toss out her stuff if she won't come get it?
 


F

FarmerJ

Senior Member
If she is going to be on social security disability its pointless to sue with the expectation of getting any thing but you are free to choose to sue her anyway , it may well harm her credit enough that she might offer to make small payments that will take her for ever to pay off. Keep a good photo record of the damages and make darn sure you follow your states laws for damage deposits so she cant sue you for her deposit because you were late doing her deposit disposition. ( send that deposit disposition via confirmed mail delivery at the least so she cant claim you didnt send it )
 
quincy

quincy

Senior Member
J&P11 said:
A tenant who hadn't paid rent for months moved out after getting approved to public housing. She left lots of damage including a crushed counter top, a kitchen cabinet door hanging, and a bedroom door completely off. Also several 2" x 8" large gouges in the hall floor. The place is a mess and I'm pretty sure she hadn't cleaned the bathtub or toilet ever. I doubt I'll get a cent of the $3000 I'm owed. When I asked about rent and late fees she would bring up Covid and say she was working on getting some rent money from a charity. Which she was able to get some. But once they found out that her not paying rent was in no way connected to Covid the charities and churches had no funding program for her case. She had been in school for years and lived on financial aid. She paid her rent months ahead each time she got a check. After graduating (masters degree....she is in her late 40's) she decided she had too much anxiety to actually get a job, so she's been trying to get on disability for the past two years. All that is background. The issue I have is besides the mess and damage to the home is that she texted me that the people who said they would take her queen size bed and two large heavy tv's didn't get them and she implied that she just didn't know what to do about the rest of the items she left or about her outside cat. I went over a few days ago to find she'd still not moved the bed, or the heavy tube tv's. Nor has she left all the keys. The door was left unlocked and a neighbor was told that the key was in the pantry ( she didn't tell me,though, and all she had left in the pantry was a back door key). What do I do now? I shouldn't have to pay someone to haul out her mess. Her $200 deposit wouldn't even cover cleaning the floors and appliances. If I thought I'd actually get my owed rent, I'd file a small claims suit. But I don't think I can file a claim against her possibly getting disability payments in the future. Do I need to file some sort of papers to be allowed to toss out her stuff if she won't come get it?
Click to expand...
What is the name of your state?
 
G

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
As previously mentioned what you must do with her leftover items may often depend on which state this took place in. This is why this site will request you post the state to be able to review any statutes that address this issue.

While you shouldn't HAVE to pay someone to haul out her stuff you may find you have to do exactly that. To add insult to injury some states require a landlord store a tenants items for a certain amount of time until they can claim them again.

Take some time to review what your particular state requires (if anything) regarding this issue.

Gail
 
J

J&P11

Junior Member
FarmerJ said:
If she is going to be on social security disability its pointless to sue with the expectation of getting any thing but you are free to choose to sue her anyway , it may well harm her credit enough that she might offer to make small payments that will take her for ever to pay off. Keep a good photo record of the damages and make darn sure you follow your states laws for damage deposits so she cant sue you for her deposit because you were late doing her deposit disposition. ( send that deposit disposition via confirmed mail delivery at the least so she cant claim you didnt send it )
Click to expand...
Thank You. I will definitely send the disposition by certified mail. I have 30 days in my state of North Carolina. Technically though, she has not completely vacated the home since there are items left ( queen size bed, two large tvs, desk chair, and various small items both inside and outside). Nor has she given me all the keys. Do I need to get a writ of possession in order to have those things removed?
 
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