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OH landlord
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Posted: Tue Jul 1st, 2008 11:18 am |
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I doubt an absence from the property for 7 days is enough to declare abandonment. If it were, a property would be abandoned every time the tenant went on vacation. You need a much more detailed definition in your lease if you plan on relying on that definition if challenged in court.
OH also lacks a definition in our state laws. In my lease I have defined abandonment with 10 days late in rent, the inabaility to reach the tenant by phone contacts to him or those numbers on his application, the inability to reach the tenant by written notice by mail or posted to the door of the property, by a physical inspection of the property (giving the required 24 hour notice posted to door prior to entering), by a lack of utilities or those currently in default for non-payment, by posting a belief of abandonment notice on the door to the property, and by failure to respond to such notice within 7 days. Of course, each step must be thoroughly documented to show that I have made every attempt and afforded the tenant every opportunity to dispute the claim of abandonment. I also have the tenant sign or intitial this specific clause of the lease to show their approval and agreement of this definition. m If challenged in court later, I can show that I have taken many steps to try and reach the tenant and give him a chance to state that he has not abandoned the place. (And yes, we then have to store the property for 30 days thereafter to give him a chance to recover these belongings, so we post a notice on the door stating where he can call and retrieve these things.)
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gbwi_landlord
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Posted: Tue Jun 24th, 2008 01:20 am |
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I did read that statue and from what I can tell it only refers to the personal property left behind. And I know I need to store his furniture, etc for 30 days and give him a chance to come and get it and pay storage fees.
However, I would like to know what constitutes an actual dwelling being abandoned other than what is written in the lease. Since I cannot find reference to the unit being in abandoned in the statutes, then my lease stating 7 days of absence from a property is enough to give me right to secure the property and change the locks? Or am I wrong? If I change the locks because he abandoned the dwelling according the the lease definition of abandonment, do I still have to file an eviction to make it legal and be able to sue him for the remaining rent due for the rest of the lease term and for the damages caused that exceed the amount collected from the security deposit? Thanks in advance for all your suggestions and assistance!!
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OH landlord
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Posted: Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 08:27 pm |
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| Read WI statute 704.05(5) to read up on what your state law says about abandoned property.
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Rezaxis
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Posted: Sat Jun 21st, 2008 09:12 pm |
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People don't live like that. Tenants do...
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gbwi_landlord
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Posted: Sat Jun 21st, 2008 08:57 pm |
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| I have a property in Wisconsin with a one year lease from 11/1/07 through 10/31/08. The tenant has been habitually late paying rent, but when I have sent a letter in the past, he has always contacted me and paid when he said he would. This month, the rent didn't come and I sent a letter on June 12th stating to pay and received no response. Then I mailed a 5 day pay or quit on the 19th. When I checked the tracking, it states that the letter was undeliverable as addressed and that it has been forwarded. This prompted me to assume he has changed his address with the post office. I then called our local utility co and found out that he called on May 27th and requested service be terminated in his name. We decided to go over to the property to investigate if he had moved out and didn't let us know. Upon arrival, we found the doors locked, but the property is still filled with furniture, but no cars in the garage. There is also food all over the floors in the main living rooms and bedrooms, as well as some moldy stuff in a bowl in the bathroom. The mailbox is stuffed full with mail addressed to his girlfriend, who is not on the lease, and also another person's name, who, from what I can tell, is the girlfriend's ex. The mail looks to be from the last 3 weeks. I called the police to notify them that we had entered the property, and the officer who responded indicated they would step up patrols to see if anything strange was going on. But he did not have any other suggestions as to what to do. My question is what do I do from here? My written lease states that the property is considered abandoned after the absence of the tenant from the leased property for a period of 7 or more days. None of the neighbors recall seeing anyone there for the last few weeks. Since he has forwarded his mail and switched the utilities out of his name, can I consider it abandoned and secure the property as indicated in the lease? Is it OK for me to change the locks and do I still have to file an eviction even if he is no longer there? I'm also distressed with the amount of garbage that is inside the unit....just looking at the amount of food, stains, and nail polish on the carpeting, I am probably going to have to replace 1000 sq ft of carpet. How can people live like that?
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