Do I need to evict a person who is only renting my Garage for storage?

Question

I have rented my detached garage in Pennsylvania. Tenant uses the garage for only storage. It is a few months that the tenant has not paid rent and he is not leaving/emptying the garage either.

My understanding is that I need to evict him the same way I evict a tenant living in a rental property.

Is that correct? If so, how can I take him to court when he doesn’t have an address, or should I use the house address where the garage is?

He is responsive to my texts/calls but is not sharing his current address. He claims he lives with friends. I used an agency to find his last address and that is the address on his DL.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Greg M. · Answer

A quick search indicates that Pennsylvania has fairly strict laws regarding this.

Short version is that you can sell his stuff after following the proper steps.

Long version is that there the proper steps take time and there were warnings that you better follow the steps exactly and your lease agreement better be full of all the required wording.

Given your downside of being liable for everything in the garage, I'd pay a few hundred to a lawyer for guidance.

Having said that, have you tried calling and saying on "April 20th I'm hiring a dumpster and trashing all you stuff. Come get anything you want before then" and see if this motivates him. Perhaps your bluff gets him to move.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

No, you don't evict him. He is not a resident living in the garage. You are storing his stuff, therefore storage laws are what you should follow. You should use a storage rental agreement and you should know the storage laws. If you continue to do this, I recommend you educate yourself first.

Richard F. · Answer

Aloha,

I am not familiar with PA specific laws, but in general, Residential Housing is under different set of laws than Storage Facilities and all Commercial, Industrial, and Land Rental/Leasing. People LIVE in residential, they do not (lawfully) LIVE in other types of property, therefore the "hardship" of being forced out is, in the eyes of the Courts, not as potentially critical and time consuming.

There will be separate rules for storage that you must follow, but you should have been aware before you rented the space. If you do not have proper language in your Rental Agreement, it may create new issues. I agree with others that you hire an experienced RE attorney. There is a little law called the Military Servicemembers Civil Relief Act that will ruin your day if the Renter is Military, whether you are aware or not.

Stephen Homes · Answer

Thank you for giving me your time and advise.

I found the following: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/... (1982 Act 325 - PA General Assembly). I am not sure if I am looking at the right place for the relevant laws in my case. This site states:

After the tenant has been in default continuously for a period of 30 days, enforcement action shall be taken by the owner.

Henry T. · Answer

I was sleeping, I thought I heard somethinng but I just fell back asleep,. didn't think too much of it. Darn, I'm sorry dude, looks like someong broke the lock and stole all your good stuff. So sorry that happened. Oh , by the way, your rent is due.

Stephen Homes · Answer

On Feb 23rd I texted him (as I don't have his address), to move out.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Have you given him notice to vacate the garage?  Start with that.

Do I need to evict a person who is only renting my Garage for storage?

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