THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409220322
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Landlord & Tenants
SOURCE: William Mazel and Albert Teich Jr.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
I am the owner of only one rental unit and I have a problem. I have been renting to four students at a local university and they have 10 months left on their lease. It appears that the students have decided not to agree with each other and all have removed all their furniture and rugs, all clothing, except for a few personal items, and a washer and dryer in the kitchen. They have also left junk in the garage. The rent is not paid for the month.
I do not know for sure where all of them are living at the current time. I do have a couple of phone numbers but calls are not returned. I drive by and find that the doors are unlocked and open so that anyone who wants to can go into the premises. I have had to close and lock them again. The tenants are now 15 days late in their rent.
First of all, we suggest that you send notice, in writing, via certified mail with a return receipt as well as by regular mail, notifying the tenants that you consider they have abandoned the property, that you are not accepting a surrender of the premises but that you will re-enter the premises and make an attempt to re-rent for their benefit.
In the letter, you should tell them that you intend to hold them responsible for the balance of the term of the lease and that any rent that you are able to obtain by re-renting the premises will be credited to the rent they would have been obligated to pay if they had not breached their lease.
We further suggest that you put the house in rentable condition and immediately make a reasonable effort to rent the premises. While you are trying to rent the premises, we also suggest that you follow the Virginia Landlord-Tenant Act in regards to abandoned property, not because you are covered by it but because it sets forth a good course of good faith conduct for landlords and if you follow that, you should be in good shape to protect yourself in the event any legal questions should arise in the future.
That law requires you to make an itemized listing of all property and keep that list for two years after you dispose of the property. You may remove the property to a safe area for storage and after you have held it for one month, you may dispose of it in any way you deem fit and proper. You will have to give the tenants 10 days notice at their last known address, with an ``address correction requested'' statement on the envelope, that you are going to dispose of the property. The tenants will have 30 days within which they shall have the right to reclaim the property, provided, of course, they pay the reasonable costs incurred by you placing the property in storage for safekeeping.
We also suggest that since the rent is already delinquent you go down to your local General District Court, Civil Division, and file Suit in Debt against each of the tenants for the full amount of delinquent rent. When you file suit, do not try to obtain an Unlawful Detainer. You already have possession of the premises and we do not want you to terminate your ease. Simply sue them in debt for the balance due. You might do that each month or, if you do not choose to do it monthly, you might do it every three months.
By suing only for the rent as it becomes delinquent, you are protecting yourself under the terms of the lease and retaining your right to insist upon payment for the balance of the term of the lease in the event that you are not able to re-rent at an equal or greater rent.
We also suggest that you change the locks on the premises, notifying your tenants that you are changing them for their benefit and for the protection of the property. Obviously, someone who has a key has been going in and leaving the doors open when leaving. You may do that which is reasonable to protect the premises and by changing the locks and notifying your delinquent tenants of the change, you are not evicting them.
Changing the locks is not always warranted. If a landlord changes the locks just because the tenant happens to be delinquent in rent, the landlord has effectively evicted the tenant and the tenant has no further obligations on the lease. In your case, you will be changing the locks in order to protect the premises from damage by vandals who might be going through the doors that have been left open from time to time.
Frequently, we do suggest that you act promptly in protecting the property and your rights. MEMO: Albert Teich Jr. and William Mazel are real estate lawyers based in
Norfolk. Send comments and questions to them at Real Estate Weekly, 150
W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.
by CNB