My tenant stole my stuff! - Landlord Forum thread 263644

My tenant stole my stuff! by Land and Lorder (ME) on August 9, 2012 @15:09

So my tenant, who has paid everything on time and never been an issue, moved out yesterday. I go in today and guess what? NO APPLIANCES! Fridge? Nope. Stove? Nope. Dishwasher? Nope. Microwave? Nope. All. Gone. I called the tenant to no avail. Voicemail box full. Getting letters ready to send to his forwarding address across the country in CA and sending one to my unit as well to see if he was stupid enough to forward his mail officially.

What do I do? I've called the police. They said they're on it, but what do I do in the meantime? I can't just buy new appliances out of pocket and wait to go to court with this joker and get my judgment and then wait to get paid on said judgment. Who knows how long that'll take! I can't rent the place out without appliances, either. So it seems my only option is to bit the bullet, spend a ton on the appliances, and rent it out again. The funny part? The house is very, very clean! He even cleaned where the fridge and stove were!

Any of you even heard of anything like this happening? Or am I just the "lucky" one?

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Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by Franklin (TN) on August 9, 2012 @15:18	[ Reply ]

Seriously? I can't say I've ever heard of anything like this ever happening. Tenants stealing appliances, sure. Being a good tenant for the duration of the lease, cleaning his unit, and stealing your stuff? Seems too much work for a lowlife tenant. Are you sure someone didn't break in after he left and steal everything? I know it sounds fishy that his voicemail box is full and he's not answering, but it's a slight possibility I guess. My advice is to bite the bullet and buy the new appliances. You've done all you can by filing a police report. I'm not even sure if this would be small claims court, though unless you had high end appliances, I can't imagine all that is worth over $5,000. It's highly unlikely you'll track him down, get him to court in ME from CA (though he probably won't show up, so you'll win there...), get the judgment, and actually collect on that judgment in a couple months time. That will take the better part of a year I'm sure, if you collect at all. I'm not sure what the legal ramifications of all this is, it's obviously theft and he'll do jail time if convicted. Not sure what to tell you here but just to buy the new appliances and keep pursuing legal action...

Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by NY-LL on August 9, 2012 @15:21	[ Reply ]

The property owner (landlord) should file a complaint with the police department regarding the stolen (not missing) appliances. The property owner (landlord) should file a claim with their homeowner’s insurance policy regarding the stolen (not missing) appliances with a copy of the police report. The homeowner’s insurance will likely pay for the replacement of the refrigerator, range oven, dishwasher, and microwave. The property owner (landlord) can purchase new appliances at www.searsoutlet.com for a reasonable cost. It is not likely that the tenant moved cross-country with stolen appliances. The tenant is probably living locale to the area and may have needed the appliances for a new home purchase (or may have cashed the appliances in at an appliance store). Check the local appliance stores to confirm whether there was a recent sale of a similar appliance package. This is unusual, but is not unheard of … (the primary reason landlords should require maximum security deposit).

Re: My tenant stole my stuff!

Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by Kathy (Wa) on August 9, 2012 @17:45	[ Reply ]

Im wondering if someone else stole the appliances after he cleaned up and left. Doesnt make sense he would leave place so clean and have been such a good tenant and do this. When my GF moved into her apartment, the next day someone broke in and stole all her stuff. The police told her it wasnt that uncommon as theifs look for places that people are just moving into as the neighbors arent that aware of the happenings yet. Did anyone see him take them ?

Re: My tenant stole my stuff!

Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by Land and Lorder (ME) on August 9, 2012 @21:27	[ Reply ]

My goodness.... so I did as suggested and asked around about what moving truck was used and found out from the nosy guy across the street and a few doors down (first person I went to, he'd know if his neighbor farts at night) that it was a professional moving company (I won't say which one, but a major US company). I called this company and gave them my address and after some sweet talk, the lady sang about where the truck was going, where it is in transit, etc. It is going to CA as the tenant stated. I had a crazy thought and asked if she had any way to see if there were appliances on this truck. She obviously couldn't tell, but said she would look into it and get back to me. About 2 hours later, I get a call back. The moving company indeed did put the appliances on the truck, saying they were instructed to. They have attempted to get a hold of the tenant as well, but also to no avail. She said they will work with law enforcement to make sure I get my appliances back within 2 weeks. This also explains why the area was so clean as a part of the package the tenant had was for cleaning services as well. So, long story short... mystery solved. I'm sure more crazyness will ensue from this situation. I'll update as I can.

Re: My tenant stole my stuff!

Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by Anonymous on August 10, 2012 @02:12	[ Reply ]

I'm not sure if I'm more blown away from your mastery of telling a story blow-by-blow, or by NY-LL's omniscience! Either way, thank you for unselfishly sharing, and best of luck in your legal pursuit. TC from IA

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Re: My tenant stole my stuff! (questions) by NY-LL on August 10, 2012 @12:31	[ Reply ]

Just for information purposes … What were the brand/model and value/price of the refrigerator, range oven, microwave and dishwasher? -- Were the appliances brand new or how old? Do the police plan to allow the appliances to be off-loaded then charge the tenants? -- Or will the police simply confiscate the appliances before off-loading? -- Were the appliances worth the risk of a felony charge? Please keep us all updated with the conclusion.

Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by Monique (Alberta) on February 4, 2014 @18:22	[ Reply ]

My mother-in-laws tenant stole all of my father-in-laws stuff from the shed and admitted to it, but the police can't do anything? My father-in-law passed away on Jan 4, 2014. Can we evict him without notice??

Re: My tenant stole my stuff and damaged property by Anonymous on August 25, 2015 @13:11	[ Reply ]

I too had a very clean (shiny shoes and washes his car 5 days a week) and nice; always paid rent on time tenant. The day he moved out, I was exhausted from a 16-hour day/delayed flight (work)...should have never done a walk through on that day. Okay, so I walked through and tenant had actually "covered-up" things. I refunded him his deposit (didnt charge a cleaning fee, because things looked fairly neat) When I went back to clean three days later, I found that pillows were missing, fitted sheet gone, towels gone,bathmat shredded, tub mat gone, pots and pans burned (throw out);closet door track ripped from the ceiling; flatware missing; 4 missing towels; 6 missing wash clothes and ripped mattress pad. !!!???

Re: My tenant stole my stuff and damaged property

Re: My tenant stole my stuff! by cup of compassion (Fl) on July 7, 2018 @19:43	[ Reply ]

My tenants are moving out now. They insist they own my fridge, microwave and I just went in and they took my blinds. After I had a letter drawn up by my attorney, she still stole them? This is horrible what happened to you. I can't believe he cleaned up so well (after he took your appliance) he did clean you out. Can you open an account with homedepot and pay by the month until this is settled? I'm sorry you are going through this too. My tenant has accused me of discrimination. Please hang in there. You will get a good tenant and so will I. Meantime good thing you called the police.