If you are a landlord, your first responsibility is to give the tenant a written abandonment notice explaining that his or her belongings are considered abandoned and have been safely stored. The notice must explain that the tenant must contact you within 5 days after personal delivery of the notice or 8 days after mail delivery of the notice to arrange for removal of the belongings, or else you may sell them or throw them away.
The time period is 45 days for abandoned recreational vehicles, manufactured dwellings and floating homes. The abandonment notice must also tell the tenant how to contact you, and that you will make the belongings available for removal by appointment at reasonable times.
The notice must explain that, under certain circumstances, there could be a storage charge the tenant must pay. The same kind of notice must go to any lien holder or holder of title on these kinds of property, and to the county tax assessor and tax collector in the county where the abandoned manufactured dwelling or floating home is located.
Under certain circumstances the county is required to cancel personal property taxes owed on some abandoned manufactured dwellings that are sold to a person who intends to keep the dwelling in the facility where it is located to occupy as a residence. The landlord must either have the abandonment notice personally delivered to the tenant or sent first class mail to the tenant at all three of the following locations: the rental unit, any post office box the landlord knows about, and the most recent forwarding address known to the landlord.
This place could be the rental unit, a commercial storage unit, or your garage. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: You may immediately dispose of rotting food, and you may allow an animal control agency or humane society to remove abandoned pets or livestock. Special rules also apply to motor vehicles. If you fail to follow these requirements, the tenant will have the right to recover up to twice the actual damages sustained by the tenant.
The tenant is also relieved of any liability for damage to the rental premises caused by conduct that was not deliberate, intentional, or grossly negligent, and for any unpaid rent. Once the abandonment notice has been delivered, the tenant has at least 5 to 8 days, depending on the method of delivery of the notice, in which to contact you to remove the abandoned personal belongings.
If the tenant is still taking care of his pets, seek legal advice, otherwise, call the RSPCA and report it as a cruelty case. Pets cannot be left in the property alone for any length of time, as they will need to be fed, watered, and let out for toilet breaks if applicable.
Unattended animals may also cause property damage. The respective organisation will usually arrange to collect the animal and take it into care. They might also pursue legal action against the tenant for pet abandonment. Smaller animals, such as hamsters, rabbits, or fish, etc.
Make sure you ask your tenant for the contact details of a family member or friend, preferably before offering them a tenancy agreement. This makes it easier to chase them if they leave items behind when the tenancy ends or if you evict them. Check your tenancy agreement includes a clause that clearly states items left behind will be disposed of or sold after 21 days.
Finally, a good tenant referencing system should prevent problems like this. Tell us your story. You can contact us on Twitter or Facebook. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more about cookies on this website and how to delete cookies, see our privacy notice. Decline Settings Accept. Apply to the Tenancy Tribunal Print. Apply to the Tenancy Tribunal The landlord can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for an order on how to deal with the goods.
The Tribunal can order the goods to be: disposed of returned to the tenant, or sold by the landlord. While waiting for a Tribunal hearing the landlord must store the goods. Option 2: Decide whether to store, dispose of, or sell the goods Print. Option 2: Decide whether to store, dispose of, or sell the goods Personal documents If the items left behind are personal documents, the landlord must securely store them. All other goods The landlord must take reasonable steps to assess how much the goods are worth.
If the goods are worth: less than the cost of storing, transporting and selling them, the landlord can immediately dispose of them as they see fit except for personal documents. After 35 days, they can either: continue to store them to await any claims by the tenant sell the goods at a reasonable market price.
Any extra money made by selling the goods must be sent by cheque to: Tenancy Services PO Box Porirua Include a copy of the Tribunal order if any , so we can make the payment the Tribunal has ordered.
If the tenant wants to claim goods that have been in storage The tenant can claim goods that have been held in storage. Rating form Did you find this information helpful? Add a comment. Related content Address for service An address for service is the address at which landlords or tenants receive notices and other documents about the tenancy. More about the Address for service ».
0コメント