Rental Property Investor · Appleton, WI · Member since 2018 · 51 posts · 19 votes
So here’s one for you all..
My tenant cleared out everything from her place and unloaded it all on the front curb for the garbage to pick up.. some stuff bagged, some stuff not. I’m talking everything!! Clothes, shoes, kids toys, mattresses, dressers.. everything! I’ve bagged it up and have 40 + 55 Gallon bags for the city to come pick up tomorrow.
It gets better..
I just (literally 3 minutes ago) opened up the garage door. She left. Her. Car... the car has been in there for months without moving. What would you do? As simple as call a tow truck to hall it off?? I have/had the tenants phone number. But she is unresponsive and left without leaving a forwarding address.
@Jeremy Mattson is probably check to see if they don’t claim it if there’s a way to legally get title (assuming it’s worth anything). If you don’t want to do that much leg work. Call the tenant and leave a voicemail saying after a week (or however many days you feel like giving) you’ll be calling *insert tow company name* and they’ll be towing it and to contact them if they ever want it back.
Take off the plates, put them in the car, push it to the street and call the police. If it is locked, and you don't have a Slim Jim, call a tow truck to take it away.
I think trying to do this the "right" way will be a major PITA. For example, your state may require you to store it gratis for 30 days before declaring it abandoned, and then there's the gauntlet of red tape to acquire title. All this for a car that is probably junk anyways, else she would not have left it. Even to call a scrapper to take it for free would require getting good title.
I'd say it's your civic duty to call the City and report that your tenant left their car without plates parked on your street. Not sure what the legal consequence for this would be if busted, but option A looks like no picnic to me. Do you have a security deposit you can levy against?
@Wesley W.- I have a security deposit.. But that will be quickly eaten up because I have to remodel the entire unit.
So I did a little more research on the Wisconsin Law. this is what it has to say:
Mobile homes, manufactured homes, or titled vehicles. You must give the tenant -- or anyone else you know of who has a legal interest in the vehicle -- written notice that you intend to dispose of the home or vehicle. You should deliver the notice personally or by mail to the tenant’s last known address.
So my plan is 1. See if the vehicle is acutally titled. 2. Issue a notice to her last known address. 3. Get rid of the car and hopefully get a couple $$'s out of it. haha.