what can I do if tenants abandoned property mid lease

[Gabriel Miller]

Hey Friends,

I have tenants that have not paid October rent yet.  I have not been able to contact them in any way.  I went to the property today to post a pay or vacate.  They did not answer the door and when I looked in the windows it appears they moved out.  I talked to the neighbor and she says they moved out on Oct 7th.  Do I have to go through the eviction process or is there some provision that allows me to take back the home sooner if it is abandoned?  

Thanks,  Gabe

[Curtis Bidwell]

Washington State Code RCW 59.18.310 tells you what you can do.  Here's a summary:

After you determine with that the dwelling has in fact been abandoned (talking to neighbors, seeing an empty unit, etc),  post a Notice of Abandonment, immediately enter the unit, remove abandoned property with a value less than $250 for storage in a reasonably secure place, to be disposed of in 7 days and change the locks. (I've actually never had a tenant leave anything worth more than $250 value! -except for Family pictures, keepsakes, and personal papers which have to be held for 45 days. If it is valued over $250 you have to wait 45 days to dispose of.  Mail a copy of the notice to the tenant stating where the property is being stored, and when it will be sold (you can recover lost rent, damages, etc out of the sale). You'll probably just send the notice to the rental address so it can be forwarded by the post office. If it is returned, keep it in your  tenant file.

Be sure to send the proper notice of Security Deposit Disposition within 21 days or you could be liable to return it plus damages. 

In my experience, once they walk out they aren't coming back.  Whatever they left is yours to clean up.  Yes, they are liable for the remainder of their lease until its re-rented, but they won't pay.  So, clean it out and move on to a new tenant as quickly as possible. 

Be glad their out and you don't have to evict!