Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2016 · 524 posts · 148 votes
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!
Investor · New Orleans, LA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 944 votes
8y
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.
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2017 · 719 posts · 658 votes
8y
The date should be in the court decision which they mail to the landlord.
After that the landlord can take the trash to the dumpster if it's in the lease agreement.
If it's not, the landlord pays one month storage and put everything there. That usually happens when Tenants didn't vacate the premises and Writ of possession was filed. Then the procedure is going with all that storage etc
Investor · New Orleans, LA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 944 votes
8y
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.