Re: personal property abandonment - Landlord Forum thread 353897

Re: personal property abandonment by Anonymous on August 17, 2017 @15:20

How do you know that the tenants have abandoned any personal property? Have they given up possession back to you? Are you sure you have legal possession? You may be trespassing and illegaly removing the tenants personal property? Ohio courts have ruled that such lease clauses as yours are not inforceable as they contradict your state law. It's better to proceed with filing for possession with the court so that you have legal possession back. Otherwise you may find yourself in court facing a judge who says you acted too quickly and without authority to remove the tenants things as they may be hold overs according to the court.

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Re: personal property abandonment by Rich (Ohio) on August 17, 2017 @15:39	[ Reply ]

They have given possession back to me as they left the keys to the house on the counter. I texted both the husband and wife the day before their 30 days notice in which they gave in writing that their 30 days was up the following day to have all of their belongings out of the house and to pay the rent that they still owed to me. Neither responded to the text and when I entered the house the following day, all of the keys were sitting on the counter.

Re: personal property abandonment by Garry (Iowa) on August 17, 2017 @16:39	[ Reply ]

Keys left on a counter should still signal they were giving you possession back. What you should do now is go in and take LOTS of pics, not only of the stuff they left you, but also of all the empty closets, kitchen cupboards, whole rooms, refrig, etc. Then dispose of everything any way you want. If there was anything of value left by the Ts, it will be up to them to take you to court and prove you did something wrong.

Re: personal property abandonment by Anonymous on August 17, 2017 @17:28	[ Reply ]

Leaving keys on the counter means nothing. They could be there for someone else. You have no documentation that the tenants have abandoned the rental such as any notice that they have left and any thing left is abandoned? You should be aware of Ohio's law where a tenant who is not in possession can file a 5321.15 claim against a landlord who takes possession unlawfully. Without documentation that the tenants have indeed abandoned the rental, if a tenant can prove that you violated Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.15, you can be subject to a lawsuit for the tenant's actual damages and attorneys fees. A claim for relief for violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.15 may not be the only claim for relief in the lawsuit against you. You can also be sued for the common law intentional torts of conversion, trespass, trespass to chattels, punitive damages to the tenant as well as attorneys fees. (Gordon v. Morris, 2001 Ohio App. LEXIS 338 (February 2, 2001) Greene Co. App. 2000-CA-69) "The best course of action to take in a situation where you cannot be sure whether the tenant has abandoned the place is to file an eviction with the courts and get a writ of restitution. If the bailiff conducts the set out after a properly filed eviction, there will be no liability for the landlord if he or she is sued. The money that you spend filing the eviction will likely pale in comparison to the money you spend on an attorney to defend you on a 5321.15 claim. Even in cases where you are sure that the tenant has abandoned, it is a good idea to video tape the condition of the premises so that you can show a court the conditions which led you to believe that the apartment was abandoned, as this may lead the court to the same conclusion". "A wise landlord will make a practice of having tenants sign a document stating that they have left the property voluntarily as of a certain date and that any property left behind is either not theirs or abandoned. You should also preserve any communications with the tenant such as emails or letters in which the tenant stated that he was leaving and not coming back. Making an inventory of any items left behind is not a bad idea either. Storing valuable items in a safe place for a time is also a good idea. This may limit the damages the tenant can assert against you".

Re: personal property abandonment by Anonymous on August 17, 2017 @17:36	[ Reply ]

Please do not "dispose of everything any way you want" unless you are prepaired to risk paying your extenant damages! Follow what the courts have outlined as proper procedure to avoid any possible damage claims against you. That is proper dobad wordation the tenants have abandoned the rental, giving permission to dispose of any remaining items or proceed with a statutory eviction process to gain possession of the rental.

Re: personal property abandonment by Bryant on August 17, 2017 @18:25	[ Reply ]

I would not follow this [Then dispose of everything any way you want. If there was anything of value left by the Ts, it will be up to them to take you to court and prove you did something wrong.] The landlord would be the one who has to prove that they were justified in disposing of the tenants property. The law considers any landlord that takes possession of property left behind to create a bailment where the landlord is legally required to protect the property for a period of time. The following is from a Ohio law firm page- A landlord in Ohio has the duty to safeguard a tenant's abandoned property for at least 30 days. The landlord may store a tenant's personal property from an abandoned rental unit in a different location, including a storage locker or unit, and must inform the tenant in writing of where she may claim the property. If the tenant doesn't respond, the landlord may sell or discard the tenant's personal property after the 30-day limit expires. A landlord may auction off any personal property valued over $300. Many municipalities in Ohio have their own ordinances. The problem is that there is no state guildelines on what a landlord must do with a tenants abandoned property. So many local municipalities have developed their own regulations a landlord should be awar of. Still, the recumended course of action is to seek an eviction for possession to avoid any issues.