Indiana landlord putting things on street

[Gulliver R.]

I’m wondering if a landlord in Indiana can take a tenant’s stuff out of their rental home after they’ve been evicted (they just left their unwanted furniture and trash there after they left) and immediately put it on the street or dumpster? Is there a certain timeframe a landlord needs to wait or can he do this right away? Thank you!

[Jennifer T.]

This can vary substantially, depending on state/county laws.  FWIW, in Orleans Parish (county), it happens when a person refuses to leave after an eviction order and the sheriff accompanies the property owner/manager to the property.  At that point, everything in the unit needs to be moved out to the curb.  Either by the LL or people they've hired to do it.  But all of it has to be on the curb, so the tenant can retrieve items if they want them.  The LL is not allowed to touch those items for 24 hours.  However, anybody else can.  It's like a free neighborhood garage sale.  After 24 hours, the LL can keep or discard whatever they want.  With that said, I can't imagine anyone cares or checks the 24 hours thing, though I would abide by it.  Personally, I have only had one eviction that required a sheriff.  But the tenant had already taken all of the items out of the unit, so we didn't need to haul anything to the curb.

If someone just leaves and isn't evicted, I get something signed and in writing (or an e-mail) that they have vacated the unit and any possessions left in it.  My "carrot" is letting them know that, otherwise, I will need to go through the eviction process.  And why have an eviction on their record when all they have to do is give me proof they have no more claim on the unit.  I've only had to do that once, but it worked like a charm with nightmare tenants who had cut off all communication after skipping out.