Marysville, PA · Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes
I evicted a tenant last week and he left behind essentially an entire house of furniture and other stuff including two refrigerators full of food that I'm now paying to keep cold since I have taken over electricity. I know he has 30 days to get everything and that I can charge a storage fee. Can I restrict access to his property unless he pays the fee? Or is it something that I am supposed to just tack onto his "bill" that will never be paid and that I need to give him access whenever he wants. I don't know how to deal with this. He doesn't seem to have any incentive to empty the house until his time is almost up and I can't really begin to prep the house until his stuff is out. I'd rather not go through the hassle of paying of moving company and renting a storage unit. Suggestions?
I have zero experience with this, but I would hire a moving company to put it in storage. Then when he pays the fee he can have his stuff. If he does not pay the fee then let the storage company auction it off.
In the mean time you can clean the place and change the locks. Let him know in writing where he can get his stuff after he pays the fee and include the moving and storage costs In the fee.
Not sure if that’s legal, but seems like the best way to move forward for you.
I have zero experience with this, but I would hire a moving company to put it in storage. Then when he pays the fee he can have his stuff. If he does not pay the fee then let the storage company auction it off.
In the mean time you can clean the place and change the locks. Let him know in writing where he can get his stuff after he pays the fee and include the moving and storage costs In the fee.
Not sure if that’s legal, but seems like the best way to move forward for you.
Yes, the law says I need to store his property if he indicates that he has left it behind. He has 30 days to come get it. What I don't know is how much they can abuse it such as with the refrigerated stuff or wanting access every other day.
This is an excellent question for your landlord/tenant attorney. Pretty sure that "storage" does not mean "leave it in your property". IDK if you're required to provide electricity to preserve his refrigerated items. If allowed, I'd be tempted to stuff everything into boxes and pile it in the garage. I'd tape the fridge doors closed and move them to the garage, too. Plug them in, if required by law. If not, well they're waiting for him, with all the contents. After 30 days, hire one of those "you have junk" companies to make it all disappear.
I evicted a tenant last week and he left behind essentially an entire house of furniture and other stuff including two refrigerators full of food that I'm now paying to keep cold since I have taken over electricity. I know he has 30 days to get everything and that I can charge a storage fee. Can I restrict access to his property unless he pays the fee? Or is it something that I am supposed to just tack onto his "bill" that will never be paid and that I need to give him access whenever he wants. I don't know how to deal with this. He doesn't seem to have any incentive to empty the house until his time is almost up and I can't really begin to prep the house until his stuff is out. I'd rather not go through the hassle of paying of moving company and renting a storage unit. Suggestions?
Thanks.
In the city of Cleveland we have to store tenants stuff as well. The way it works her there is a list of court approved movers you can use to perform the evictions. You are not allowed to move the items yourself or hire a company who isn't on this list. They take everything out to the curb in the morning when forceful entry is made. It sits on the curb until 5pm. Anything that wasn't stolen or taken by the owner is then retrieved by the moving company. They then store it for 30 days before throwing it away or selling it off.
My suggestion is to contact the housing department & see if they have preferred movers they use for evictions. If they do I imagine the movers handle the storage as well. They just build it into the up front fee they charge you for clearing out the house. If your tenant comes looking for his junk just pass on the moving companies number & your good to go.
Same here we just moved the crap to the barn & the small stuff in large contractor bags. After 30 days it went to the dump. We inherited these gems & the young woman was HOME ALL DAY watching soaps with 2 babies. What you see is how they lived.
Guess which piece of property he was desperate to retrieve & spent hours going through all the bags in the barn looking for it. He even went through some of the bags full of chicken manure for the garden!!!
But they did pay their rent on time & for some reason decided to leave on their own.
@Mark M. Review the 3rd link that @Steve Babiak gave in his response, that is the easiest and most accurate information on the PA Act for Abandoned property. Technically on the eviction notice there is a notice about them having 10 days to contact you about removal of their items, however, I err on the side of caution and also mail them a letter with the verbiage about their property. If they do not contact you within the 10 days, you can throw everything away, however if they do contact you and say they want their stuff, they have up to 30 days to coordinate to remove their belongings. I suggest the following, however I don't know how it holds up in court due to the fact that the Act does not give clarification on the following points. Many tenants will string you along and think they can come and get their stuff a car full at a time, which wastes a lot of your time and I don't let them play that game. In your letter, also state that the day and time they choose to come take their items can only be rescheduled once from the original date and time and that if they don't show or call to reschedule on the first time, you will remove their items. I would also state that anything left behind when they do show up for their scheduled move out, will be thrown away, so they need to ensure they bring help and a large enough moving vehicle to take their stuff. Hope this helps!