I have a tenant who is moving out after having been busted with a large amount of drugs (approx $10,000) in the unit. I had started eviction proceedings against him but it seems he has moved out in advance of that taking effect. The building superintendents say he had a moving truck over there and had booked the elevator. He contacted me to say that the unit would be cleaned and ready for hand back of keys this afternoon.

The question is, would you do a move out inspection with a drug dealer? I have not had trouble with him or his relative, although his relative was convicted of possession of illegal firearms. I see two advantages in doing a move out inspection together: he would conclusively be returning possession to me in handing back keys, and we would note any damages together with him signing off on that. I believe that there may be some damage although I am not sure to what extent. Also I would likely get a forwarding address since our move out form calls for that.

The downside of course is who knows what might happen. Relations were good but that is before I filed eviction papers. As an alternative I could just have him hand keys to the building superintendent and then do a move out inspection on my own. I could get a forwarding address by performing another credit check, which my lease authorises me to do for enforcement of any lease term. Being sure that he has handed back possession is important as there are rules here about that and I want to change locks once he is out. if there is not sufficient clarity that he has returned possession then changing locks could be a breach of landlord and tenant laws here.

I am not sure what to do. I think that things would probably be OK but this is a somewhat open question. He had nothing against me prior to filing for eviction. We have had reasonably civil emails over the past few days. What do BPers think of the relative merits of meeting him to do a move out inspection or doing things remotely and inspecting on my own? This is a time sensitive matter - he could be out today.

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