After taking the pictures, I will often store the property in one of the bedrooms if I have enough time between tenants.  Otherwise, I move it to the basement or garage.  Keep in mind that you must protect this property against theft and damage.  Any old food or dishes can be discarded as well as anything that is obviously junk or trash (be sure your definition of junk is the same as the tenants!).

I have to say that although I rarely see any tenants coming back to claim their possession, I still do it.  With that said, I hate it!  Why do I have to store their stuff that they obviously did not care enough about to move with them?  The worst is when I have evicted the tenant for owing me money and now I have to store their junk.  It ads insult to injury.  While I can’t give you eviction advice, most landlords in this situation would never store the tenant’s left over stuff.

Well here is some small, but good news.  Affective August 1, 2010, landlords only need to store the tenant’s abandoned personal property for 28 days.  This is a welcome change.  I suspect the legislator realized that if you are not coming to claim your stuff after 28 days, you are probably not going to get it.

This is a little understood part of the landlord/tenant law.  What happens when your tenant vacates your property (whether by eviction or by their lease expiring) and then leaves behind personal belongings.  Here is the official statute:

Minnesota Statute 504B.271 TENANT’S PERSONAL PROPERTY REMAINING IN PREMISES.
Subdivision 1.Abandoned property.

If a tenant abandons rented premises, the landlord may take possession of the tenant’s personal property remaining on the premises, and shall store and care for the property. The landlord has a claim against the tenant for reasonable costs and expenses incurred in removing the tenant’s property and in storing and caring for the property.

The landlord may sell or otherwise dispose of the property 60 days after the landlord receives actual notice of the abandonment, or 60 days after it reasonably appears to the landlord that the tenant has abandoned the premises, whichever occurs last, and may apply a reasonable amount of the proceeds of the sale to the removal, care, and storage costs and expenses or to any claims authorized pursuant to section 504B.178, subdivision 3, paragraphs (a) and (b). Any remaining proceeds of any sale shall be paid to the tenant upon written demand.

Prior to the sale, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to notify the tenant of the sale at least 14 days prior to the sale, by personal service in writing or sending written notification of the sale by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the tenant’s last known address or usual place of abode, if known by the landlord, and by posting notice of the sale in a conspicuous place on the premises for at least two weeks.

Did you get that?  Here is how I understand, interpret, and use the above law:

• Before you dispose of anything, I recommend you at the minimum take a paper inventory.  Better yet, take pictures or video of everything.  Even your camera phone is better than nothing.  You want a picture to show a judge when the dead-beat tenant tries to sue you, looking for their 42″ plasma TV they supposedly left behind.
• Anything that could be considered junk or trash can be immediately disposed of including any dishes or food.  Keep in mind that junk to you may not be junk to the tenant, but the reasonable test.  One of my friends always uses this argument:  “if it was so valuable, why did they leave it behind?”.
• You must store any property for 60 days after the tenant has left the property as defined in the above statute.  You can store the property anywhere it will be safe from damage, theft, etc.  Occasionally, if I am doing renovations on the apartment, I may have my property handyman store everything in an extra bedroom for at least some time until I absolutely have to move it.
• The landlord can charge for the storage, removal, and any other expenses that are reasonable.  I would recommend you document, document, document any and all costs.  Do not think you can charge $100 per day to store this stuff in your garage.  If it got to court, I am sure the judge would look at your sideways!
• Although you can not hold the property ransom for any past due rent or damages, I believe (do not quote me on this one) that you can hold it ransom for any and all storage/moving costs.
• The landlord must make all reasonable accommodations to allow the tenant access to the property.  I often will have them give me 24 hours notice when it is convenient to me.  When you do allow access, document everything that is removed.  You don’t want them coming back later and claiming that someone stole that 50″ plasma TV.
• At the end of 60 days, I will often try to send a letter to their forwarding address telling them I am disposing everything.  Then sell it, keep it, or toss it.

Unfortunately, having to store your tenant’s stuff can be a last kick in the teeth after just evicting a tenant for owing you $1000s. In my experience, 98% of the tenants never come back for anything. I have thrown out old family albums, TVs, computers, tools, etc. I once took 14 bags of clothes to the Goodwill from a tenant that I evicted because they couldn’t pay the $150 portion of their Section 8 rent. It always amazes me that many of them lead such disposable lives.

Hi Scott, I am looking for a resource for a problem with a current tenant, and I’m hoping you can help.

The lease ran out 5/31 and they asked to sign a month-month lease, which has not been returned. They are still in the property and have not paid the rent for June. They said they’re closing on a house in mid-June (but cannot provide a closing date). My last message to them was that I need to hear from them w/in 48 hrs or I will take further action. No call back yet.

I think it might be important to note that I did receive a 60 day move out notice from them (almost in time) but they said in May (over the telephone) they need a few more weeks. I have said a number of times that they need to sign a new lease for both of our protection.

I hope you can steer me in the right direction on the next step or two. I need time to get into the property and clean up the absolute filthy pig-sty they’ve left for me.

I wrote about this topic back in August 2007.  I thought I would pull out this post, dust it off a bit, see if I have any new ideas, and shoot it back out.  Here is version 2.0 (with my updates in red):

You decide to not renew your tenant’s lease for any number of good reasons (noise complaints, consistently late payments, dirty apartment, excessive calls from the tenant for misc items, etc).  After you notify them of your decision, they stop taking your calls and don’t answer the door when you stop over.  They need to vacate their apartment by the 31st.

Ultimately, you find a new tenant, that you are excited about, to move in on the 1st of that next month and sign a lease.  You show up on the 31st at 5pm and are surprised to see that the outgoing tenant is still there, has not packed a box, and says that they are staying.  Now What!

Well, I have some ideas on “Now What!”, but let’s back up and examine the process from the beginning and let me show you how you can put contingency plans in place to reduce your risk of having a “Now What!”

Prior to telling the tenant you are not renewing their lease:

• Tour the unit (apartment) looking for any work that may need to be done for a new tenant coming in.  Painting the entire unit may be tough, but how about fixing all those other items?  This will speed up the turnover and possibly put the existing tenant in a better mood.
• Chat with the tenant informally about their plans to renew the lease.  See if they are thinking about a larger/smaller place, different neighborhood, and such.  Maybe they just need a little coaxing to move on their own.  Often, they dislike you as much as you dislike them!

How to tell the tenant you are not renewing their lease:

• I suggest that you do this verbally first, as it is easier to quickly explain the situation, it is less formal and more personable.
• Always follow up with something in writing (tell them you are sending it).
• Give 61 days notice.  This should work legally in most states and it is neither too long nor too short.  Be specific in the notice about what date and time they must move out.
• Call them back in a week and see how they are coming on finding a new apartment.  If they are not taking your calls, stop by.  If they won’t answer the door, you should start preparing for the worst.  This is infrequent if you have always been courteous and respectful to them in the past, but it can happen.

Preparing for the “worst”:

• Work hard to get in and speak to them.  Use your best negotiation skills.
• In a multi-unit building, I may ask another tenant if they have seen the problem tenant or if they said anything to them.  Do NOT divulge too much info about the problem as it can get back to the outgoing tenant.
• If you can get them talking and they are telling you directly that they are not going to move, consider giving them an incentive such as all their damage deposit back regardless of the condition of the property (within reason).  Offer to give them $200 toward a U-Haul or moving company of their choice (pay money to movers directly).  I rarely do this, as there is no guarantee they will move, but if the tenant is down on their luck or broke, this may be enough.
• This is going to sound harsh, but consider a preemptive strike:  If they are late or past due on their rent or violating any part of the lease, think about evicting them (or threatening to evict them) early.  Then you already have a legal way to insure they are out on the 31st.
• Do not lease the apartment to anyone needing to move in immediately after the existing tenant is supposed to leave.  This step will cost you at least one month of lost rent, but will prevent the “Now What!” situation above.
• Have your attorney draft a letter simply reasserting the lease ending date and what will happen if they do not move.
• Research how to evict a “Hold Over” tenant so you are prepared if they stay.
• Typically, the lease that is in place will convert to a month to month lease with the same conditions, rules, and requirements.  Some leases will allow the landlord to raise the rent once the lease expires.  Examine your lease and use it as leverage.
• If the tenant receives any public assistance, contact their coordinator and see if they can provide any help or leverage to get the tenant to move on time.  Often the public assistance will stop paying their rent at the end of the lease and therefore they will be liable for the entire amount.

The morning after (they didn’t move out):

• In every state, tenants have rights.  These rights are to protect the tenant from the landlord simply walking in and moving all the tenants furniture to the curb on the morning after.  If you did your research above, you should know what both your rights and the tenant’s rights are.
• If your lease allows you to change the rent amount, notify the tenant of the new rent amount.  Try to use any other provisions in the lease as leverage.
• Put your “Hold Over” tenant eviction plan into motion.  How long this will take varies by location and even time of the year.  In Minnesota, it can take up to 2 weeks lately (and in some cases longer).

Having a tenant refuse to leave once their lease expires can be a stressful event.  There are many unknowns and turns in the road.  By being prepared as early in the process as possible with good contingencies, you should be able to avoid the “What Now!”.