Unsure if a tenant abandoned a property, what do you do?

Question

So I posted the other day asking about a tenant that broke his lease and was wondering what to do but it reminded me of an issue I had previously where a tenant just vanished on me. I'm not sure I handled it how it should have been handled but I eventually took back the apartment and stored her a stuff for a while until I was pretty sure she wasn't coming back. Technically this girl was still on a lease and if she showed back up after I had changed the locks I figure I might have been in trouble. If you are unsure if a tenant has moved out because there is complete silence on their end, you don't see their vehicle at the property anymore, and they haven't paid rent, what do you do? In Arizona you have to give a 5 day notice for them to pay or you can file eviction paperwork. If you are unsure if they are gone, do you evict them anyways to be safe?

Wesley W. · Answer

Agree with @JD Martin.  Here we have to properly evict, and store for 30 days.  My lease states they must pay for storage fees to get their stuff back.

In your situation, I would move to evict.  If she left the utilities on and her possessions were still present inside, you'd have a hard time making the case to a judge that she absconded.

One "short cut" you could try is reaching out to her and explaining your situation with her still in legal possession of the unit and not paying rent to ask her to send you a "return of possession" notice (search it up online) to stop the accruing charges to her.  You may even proactively negotiate to waive some of what's currently due if she does this within 3 days, or whatever.

What I've suggested is essentially a "cash for keys" scenario, which I'm philosophically against - but it is a solution you could try.

Corey G. · Answer

I did look it up and AZ does have some rules for abandonment which I've posted below.

"J. For the purposes of this section, "abandonment" means either of the following:1. The absence of the tenant from the dwelling unit, without notice to the landlord for at least seven days, if rent for the dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for ten days and there is no reasonable evidence other than the presence of the tenant's personal property that the tenant is occupying the residence.

2. The absence of the tenant for at least five days, if the rent for the dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for five days and none of the tenant's personal property is in the dwelling unit.

A. If a dwelling unit is abandoned after the time prescribed in subsection J of this section, the landlord shall send the tenant a notice of abandonment by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the tenant's last known address and to any of the tenant's alternate addresses known to the landlord. The landlord shall also post a notice of abandonment on the door to the dwelling unit or any other conspicuous place on the property for five days.

B. Five days after the notice of abandonment has been both posted and mailed, the landlord may retake the dwelling unit and rerent the dwelling unit at a fair rental value if no personal property remains in the dwelling unit. After the landlord retakes the dwelling unit, money held by the landlord as a security deposit is forfeited and shall be applied to the payment of any accrued rent and other reasonable costs incurred by the landlord by reason of the tenant's abandonment.

C. If the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental. If the landlord rents the dwelling unit for a term beginning before the expiration of the rental agreement, the rental agreement is deemed to be terminated as of the date the new tenancy begins. If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental or if the landlord accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the rental agreement is deemed to be terminated by the landlord as of the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment. If the tenancy is from month to month or week to week, the term of the rental agreement for this purpose shall be deemed to be a month or a week, as the case may be."

There is more about storing a tenant's personal property and such but it seems like essentially it comes down to whether the tenant's personal property is in the unit or not. If not, then it's 5 days + certified notice + 5 days and I can retake the unit. If personal property is in the unit then it's 10 days + certified notice + 5 days and I can retake the unit (such as the case I described above) but then there is the matter of storing the tenant's stuff which is a pain.

An eviction on the other hand is 5 days notice + eviction paperwork + process server + 3 to 7 days for a court date + 7 days the judge usually gives them to come up with the rent or move out but I would also get a judgement for late rent + fees.

I guess the main difference between abandonment or eviction would be whether or not I know if there has been reasonable evidence of the tenant's presence at the property or not.

JD Martin · Answer

Your lease should describe what falls under abandonment and the remedies for such. There's a good chance your state has also already addressed the issue in your landlord/tenant laws.

Michele Fischer · Answer

You are getting good advice.

We had a tenant completely abandon once and it was unnerving.  We were checking arrest, hospital, and death data, he was just gone and we never figured out what happened.  We have used our states abandoment policy several times to pursue getting a unit back when rent goes overdue.

We would not evict if we can get possession back via abandon process.

As additional protection, when we rent to a single occupant, we have them fill this out as part of the lease so we have someone else to work with:

In the event of abandonment, arrest or death, the following person has the authority to decide when to terminate tenancy and how to store/distribute my belongings:

Name:           ____________________________________________________

Address:       ____________________________________________________

Phone #:       ____________________________________________________

Patrick O'Sullivan · Answer

That makes total sense. Once the eviction is in motion, it’s often more efficient to see it through, especially when the situation is unclear. Sounds like you played it safe and avoided the risk of a wrongful lockout. The added benefit of having a judgment in hand doesn’t hurt either if you ever decide to pursue collections. Appreciate you sharing your experience, it’s helpful to hear how others are handling these gray-area situations in real time.

Patrick O'Sullivan · Answer

Hey Corey,

Sounds like you’ve done a good job digging into Arizona’s abandonment rules — good on you for checking the statute directly. It really does come down to whether you have clear evidence that the tenant is truly gone and whether any personal property is left behind.

In practice, many landlords in your spot lean toward filing a formal eviction if there’s any doubt — it’s slower and costs a bit more, but it protects you from the risk of an illegal lockout claim if the tenant suddenly pops back up. Plus, you’ll have a court judgment in hand for any unpaid rent or damages, which can help if you need to pursue collections later.

If you do go the abandonment route, just make sure you follow the letter of the law: post and mail the notices, wait the correct number of days, take photos to document the condition of the unit and what was left behind, and store any personal property as required. That paper trail can really help if there’s ever a dispute.

One extra thing some landlords do: try calling utility companies to see if the account is still active — that can be another clue. And documenting any attempts to reach the tenant by text, email, or certified mail helps too.

Hope that helps a bit — it’s never fun, but sounds like you’re on top of it!

Corey G. · Answer

Yeah I continued with the eviction. The power was still on in his name for 12 days and while I found out the apartment was pretty much empty after I had already filed the eviction paperwork, it was just easier and quicker to continue it than start all the way over again.

Corey G. · Answer

The girl from before left everything in the apartment and her utilities were left on. In this situation?

Theresa Harris · Answer

Put a notice on the door saying you are coming by to do an inspection.  call the utility company to see if they've closed their account.  If the house is empty (or appears to be) and the utility accounts are closed, send one last message (phone from a different number) and then change the locks.

Unsure if a tenant abandoned a property, what do you do?

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