THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607040479
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Landlords & Tenants
SOURCE: Greg McCracken
LENGTH: 60 lines
Last month, we discussed a landlord's options when a tenant has abandoned the property. The article failed to mention what you do with personal property left on the premises by the tenant.
One option is to leave the personal property on the premises. However, this should be done only if you intend to hold the missing tenant accountable for the balance of the lease. To do this you cannot reclaim and relet the premises; therefore the property lies fallow, generating no income. Since most folks cannot afford to do this, this is an impractical option.
The second option is to reclaim the premises for the purpose of terminating the lease, fixing the amount due by the missing tenant and releasing the premises. If this is done when the tenant left personal property on the premises, the first thing to do is to conduct a detailed inventory of the personal property remaining on the premises.
This may take some time, but in the long run will save time and eliminate headaches. Take your time and identify each piece of property as specifically as possible, including make, model and serial numbers if available.
For commercial tenants, this is extremely important because generally any business equipment left on the premises by a commercial tenant does not belong to the tenant but is rented. Chances are, if the tenant is not paying you, he is also not paying the equipment rentals either and you will be contacted shortly by a representative or representatives of the various equipment lessors.
When this occurs, you should ask the equipment lessor to identify the equipment remaining on the premises by make, model and serial number. If it matches the equipment on the premises, have an authorized representative of the lessor sign an affidavit stating what property belongs to them, and thereafter release it.
In a residential lease, once you have completed the inventory, mail a copy to the tenant, certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address.
I realize this sounds foolish; however, in doing this you can state in good faith to a court or anyone else that you have attempted to notify the tenant that he left property on the premises and the nature and type of the property.
By sending it certified mail, you can represent to the court why the piece of mail did not get to the tenant, i.e., refused, not found, three notifications and no pick-up.
Once the inventory is complete, you can remove the property from the premises and you have an obligation to store it for 30 days. These costs can be tacked onto the amount sued for in legal proceeding against the tenant.
In any proceeding against the tenant, unlawful detainer or motion for judgment, attach a copy of the property inventory to the motion for judgment and make sure the court knows that you have the property, and you are seeking storage costs for it and permission to sell it or otherwise dispose of it at the end of the 30 days and apply any sales proceeds to the balance owed by the tenant.
This may seem like a lot of extra work for the landlord; however, if you err to the side of caution, you will rarely, if ever, run afoul of the court or the law. MEMO: Greg McCracken is a Virginia Beach lawyer. Send questions to him
at 4705 Columbus St., Virginia Beach, Va. 23462-6749. The fax number is
552-6016; e-mail, hpmv(AT)livnet.com by CNB