Recovery of Premises Tenants have moved out.

[meisie1]

I believe my tenants have moved out. 99% of their belongings are gone. Some stuff is left and it looks like they might be coming back for it. It's sort of packed. Utilities are still in their name and they have not returned the keys to the apartment. I can't find where they might have gone. The woman no longer is employed where she was originally. I'm not sure what the next step would be and when I can go in and clean up after them. They were due to pay rent a week ago and did not. They are not responding to any of my calls. I have no objection to them leaving but I would like the keys and confirmation that they are going so I can just move on. What are my options? Many thanks.

 

[army judge]

This is a very tricky thing, meisie1. Be very careful, and don't just assume. You could get sued for interfering with their leasehold.

The first question is whether the tenant has terminated the tenancy. There are reported cases where the landlord assumed the tenant had abandoned, only to find out later that the tenant was in rehab, or incarcerated. The neighbors are not a reliable source of whether someone has moved out.

If the tenant has not returned the keys, then it is better to assume they still have legal possession and bring an action to terminate the tenancy. You do not have a right to dispose of the tenant's property. There is an eviction storage law that requires certain steps to be taken. The landlord should secure the property and bring it into compliance with the sanitary code, but should not lock out the tenants.

So long as the amount of rent due is less than the small claims dollar limit, an action can be brought in small claims court to try and collect any back rent owed.

After you read this, look for your county court website, and start the process. You also need to secure the property you found, unless you were mistaken and what you thought to be property was garbage.

http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/eviction.html


http://www.ehow.com/info_8621789_legal-tenant-abandons-apartment-massachusetts.html


http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/70/blog_posts/20959-how-to-handle-an-abandoned-property