what can a landlord do with tenents personal property left behind, after they move out? Illinois?

Question

A tenent has moved out due to inability to pay, still owing 1 month rent. They won't return our calls. Can we dispose of their personal property as we wish? Or must we save it for them for a period of time?

Answer 1

SORRY SO LONG:

Where The Property Is Apparently Abandoned

To dispose of apparently abandoned property without risking liability for damages to the landlord, a landlord must follow the steps below. If the tenant left the unit because of a court-ordered eviction, the timing of the steps is slightly different. This difference is discussed below in the bold bracketed [ ] sections.

Steps to follow with abandoned property.

To dispose of personal possessions which apparently have been abandoned, the landlord should take the following steps:

1.a. Write a notice to the former tenant or tenants.

[No notice is required for former tenants who were evicted under a writ of possession. A notice already is contained in the writ of possession form which the sheriff is required to serve upon the evicted tenant or tenants.]

b. Write a notice to any other person whom the landlord believes may be the owner of some or all of the abandoned property.

The notice must:

1) Give enough information about the property so that the possible owner can identify it.

2) Tell the tenant or other possible owner receiving the notice the place where the property may be claimed.

3) Give the tenant or other possible owner a deadline after which time the property cannot be claimed.

[A tenant who is evicted under a writ of possession has 15 days after the landlord takes possession of the rental unit to pay reasonable costs of storage and to take possession of items left in the rental unit.]

4) Tell the tenant or other possible owner what the landlord intends to do with any of the property which is not claimed by the deadline.

5) Tell the tenant or other possible owner whether reasonable costs of storage will be charged before the property is returned.

2. Deliver the notices to the tenants and other possible owners of the property.

3. Meet with the tenant and other possible owners when they come to claim the property.

4. If by the deadline, the tenant or other person pays the landlord any properly demanded storage costs, the landlord must release the property to the tenant or to any other person who the landlord reasonably believes to be its owner.

5. If the property is not released and if the landlord stated in his or her notice that he or she intended to sell the property at a public sale, the landlord must release the property to the former tenant if, before the actual sale, the tenant claims it and pays the reasonable costs of storage and of advertising the sale.

6.If, after the deadline, there is any property which was not claimed by the tenants or any other people notified, depending on the circumstances, the landlord must do one of two things with the remaining property:

If the landlord reasonably believes that the property is worth less than $300, he or she may keep it, give it away, sell it or destroy it.


If the property is reasonably believed to be worth $300 or more, the landlord should arrange to have it sold at a public bidding sale after giving notice of the sale through publication. Both the landlord and the tenant have a right to bid on the property at the sale. After the property is sold, the landlord may deduct the costs of storage, advertising the sale, and conducting the sale. The remaining money must then be paid over to the county. The county can then give the money to the property owner if the owner claims the money at any time within one year after the date when the county received the money.
What should the notice say?

Under California law, the notice must contain certain information. Sample notices (one to a former tenant and one to a person other than a former tenant) are attached. A landlord may use this sample notice, but will have to fill in additional information, such as the description of the property, the place where the property may be claimed, and a date by which the property must be claimed. These are the legal requirements:

1.A description of the property.

The property should be described both in sufficient detail, and in a way which gives all possible owners enough information for them to determine whether or not the property might be theirs. The legal limitations of liability provided to a landlord do not apply to property which is not described in the notice. However, if the property includes a container (for example a trunk, or box) which is secured (that is locked, fastened or tied, in a way which would keep anyone from easily getting into it), then the contents of the container need not be described in the notice.

2.A deadline for claiming property.

A date must be specified by which the potential owner must claim the property. The date given must be at least 15 days after the notice was personally delivered or, if the notice was mailed, a date not less than 18 days after the notice was mailed.

3. Charge for storage.

The property owner may be charged for the reasonable cost of storage of the property, and that the charges must be paid before the property is released to the owner.

4. Where the property is located.

This should include both the address where the property was left and, if different, when the property may be claimed by the owner.

How should the notice be delivered?

The notice may be delivered to the tenant or other possible owner by either:

handing the notice to tenant or other possible owner -- that is, personally delivering the notice; or

mailing the notice by first class mail with postage prepaid to the tenant or other possible owner at her or his last know address.
In addition, if the landlord has reason to believe that the notice sent to the person's last know address will not be received by the person, the landlord also must send the notice to any other address, if known, where it would be reasonable to expect the person to receive the notice.

And, if the notice is sent by mail to the former tenant, one copy of the notice also must be mailed to the tenant at the address of the rental unit that the tenant vacated.

How should storage costs be charged?

If a former tenant claims the property, the landlord may charge the tenant the reasonable costs of storage for all personal property left at the rental unit, but only to the extent that the tenant has not paid those costs to the landlord previously.

But, if an owner other than the former tenant claims a portion of the property, the landlord may only require that person to pay the reasonable costs of storage for the property that person claims.

In any event, the landlord cannot charge more than one person for the same costs.

If the landlord has stored the personal property at the rental unit, the cost of the storage must be the fair rental value of the space reasonably required for such storage for the term of storage.

What is the landlord's liability?

Once the landlord has given the proper notices, whether a landlord is liable to anyone for the property depends upon whether the property was released to someone or whether the property was disposed of in another way.

Property was released:

If the property is released to the former tenant, then the landlord is not liable to any person for that property.

If the property is released to someone other than a former tenant, and if the landlord reasonably believed that person to be the owner of the property, the landlord is not liable for that property to:

any person to whom notice was given; or


any person to whom notice was not given unless such person proves that: (1) prior to releasing the property, the landlord believed or reasonably should have believed that such person had an interest in the property; and, (2) that the landlord knew or should have known, upon reasonable investigation, the address of such person.
Property disposed of in another manner (not released):

If the landlord reasonably believes that the total resale value of all the property is less than $300, the landlord may dispose of the property in any manner. However, if the landlord reasonably believes that the total resale value of all of the property is $300 or more, the property must be sold at a public sale by competitive bidding.

If the property is disposed of in either of those ways, the landlord is not liable for the property to:

any person to whom notice was given; or


any person to whom notice was not given unless such person proves that: (1) prior to disposing of the property, the landlord believed or reasonably should have believed that such person had an interest in the property; and, (2) that the landlord knew or should have known, upon reasonable investigation, the address of such person.

Answer 2

In TX you have to post Abandonment papers on the front door. You can put a lien on the property left there if you want and wait 30 days for them to claim it/pay the bill they owe. It is even more tricky than that. If you do not do the proper procedures they can go in front of the judge and ask for the property back. We wait 31 days.

Answer 3

You should write them (using certified mail), phone them, and email them that they have one week to come and get their personal property or you are going to have it moved and put it into storage at their expense. Then, they will have to pay the storage bill in order to get it out but it won't be your problem anymore! Whatever they owe your for rent is an entirely different matter and you can not sell their property to pay the debt. You will have to take them to small claims court for the unpaid rent. Best of luck.

Answer 4

Well, I do not know the law, but they have cases like this all the time on those court shows like Judge Judy. I think you can hold it until they pay what is past due and if they do not pay within a certain amount of time you can do what you wish with it. Maybe coontact them and tell them you are going to sell their stuff in a yard sale and the proceeds will go twards their past due balance. ( at garage sale prices, not actual value)

Answer 5

You should peruse your rental agreement to see if there is a statement that says something to the effect that if there is any abandoned personal property then the owner can discard this property at their own will. When they gave you the key why did you not inspect the property? Oh well you have just learned a valuable lesson.

Answer 6

In my lease agreement it is stipulated that if I vacate my apartment with personal property still in there, then after a period of 2 weeks this personal property would then belong to my landlord. So I think you can stipulate that in lease terms but I do not believe that there is a state law mandating this.

Answer 7

if you are keeping it for that duration as per the others' comments, i'd say put it in storage and add that in the dues - this way you can atleast re-rent the property without waiting for ever.

no matter what you, however, make sure you have prrof - if you send them a letter, send it via registered mail, have a copy of it, including the date, etc. What you could do is to make a copy the letter, and mail it to yourself the same day - that way you can prove your attempt to communicate

Answer 8

Check with local laws, but you should be able to send a letter to them/their legal representation stating what items remain and that you will dispose of them within 30 days unless rent is paid and they are picked up. Then sell them!

Answer 9

If you are a landlord and do not have a local lawyer to ask these questions of, you deserve everything you get. Proceed in ignorance, and hope you still own the house after it's all over.

Answer 10

Not sure but I would imagine you would have to take them to court.