How long do I have to give previous owners to move there stuff?

Question

I bought a house the last of may and my garage and attic is still FULL of stuff the previous owner has. He keeps telling me he is coming to move it . And that he can't afford a storage building. And where he is moving it he is waiting for a guy to move his stuff to make room. When I say stuff I mean truckloads of junk. How long should I wait? Also one of the items is a hot tub. It is wired to the house does it go with the house or can he take it? It was never put in the contract he was taking it. I'm tired of all this crap and just want it removed. Does anyone from the state of virginia have any experence in this? Do I need to just get a lawyer to settle this?

Answer 1

You should probably get a lawyer. All of this should've been spelled out in closing, but I'm guessing not, and you may still need to go to court to enforce your legal rights. [I'll give you what answers I can, but I am not in VA, and not a lawyer, so I don't know how much good it may do you].

He is supposed to have all of his stuff out of the house by the closing date, or else have a provision in the contract to pay you rent back on the space/time.

If the hot tun is wired to the house, and he never stated his intent to take it, or listed it in the contract as personal property, then he shouldn't have a right to take it.

Get a lawyer. It will cost money, but you'll get rid of his junk, and probably be able to collect some sort of compensation for "renting" the storage space he expected you to give him for free in your house.

Answer 2

Normally you should perform a walk through inspection the day of or the day prior to closing. If any of the seller's personal property remains at that time, you should have the contract modified to stipulate that all personal property remaining in the home will transfer with the sale and that any junk or trash will be removed at the seller's expense. The seller's closing can be delayed to allow for funds to be set aside for commercial removal of any junk or personal property that you do not want -- you do not both have to close on the same day.

Whatever the status of the junk is, one thing is for sure. The hot tub STAYS. Anything permanently connected to the utility systems in a home as well as any items physically attached to the property WHEN YOU FIRST VIEWED IT are part of the home and MUST remain absent an explicit agreement to the contrary.

When I bought my current home there were some built-in bookcases and two chandeliers that were missing at the final walk through. There was nothing in the listing agreement or the sales agreement that stated that these items would be removed. I called the title company and told them that the items were missing and that there would be no closing until they were replaced. The seller's son was half way to TX with the U-Haul and had to turn back. They tried to just give me the items but I insisted that we would not close until they were properly reinstalled by licensed tradesmen. It took a couple of days to resolve the whole thing but I had them over a barrel knowing that they needed the funds from the sale of the old place to close on their new home.

Answer 3

Send him a certified letter, signature required, he has 30 days to remove his things or you will be disposing of them at YOUR discretion.

When you get the receipt back, keep it like gold, and on day 31....back a truck up and get rid of it. You are under NO legal obligation to be a free storage unit for the previous owners.

You and your Realtor should have done a thorough, visual inspection of the property the day before or the morning of, and refused to sign closing papers until the items were removed.

HE CANNOT TAKE THE HOT TUB. If it's hard-wired to the house, it is PART of the house.

When he shows up to remove the items, have him SIGN a document stating that he is responsible for any damage to your home in the process of moving it...if you don't want to throw it out yourself.

PS: Chances are, you probably don't even need to send him the letter...but in case the nutcase sues you, you can at least demonstrate that you made every reasonable effort to give him notice and an opportunity. There is NO WAY you would lose.

Answer 4

read your sales contract. If your agent was a smart cookie - she should have put the convenience clause into your contract. Basically it's a two sentence clause that states any items left on the property post closing are for the sole convenience of the new occupant and title and possession will transfer at closing. However, be warned, by continuing to store his items, you are entering into a contract based on precedent - that is by your past behavior it can be reasonably assumed that you have given indefinite permission to continue storage. Send your intentions via certified return receipt.

Answer 5

If you own the house, at this point, I am pretty sure you could just toss it. I would send him a letter with a delivery receipt telling him he has 30 days to remove his stuff or you will toss it and send him the bill for any removal fees. That way at least you have it in writing.

Answer 6

Watching tv is simpler but I enjoy reading literature more

Answer 7

while reading a book, you're stimulating the human brain. You make your reading and literacy skills and you simply in the process, become more literate. Despite having today's modern tools, you need to be able to read still.
While watching t.v. can be good fun, it is not doing anything to the human brain.

Answer 8

They have 30 days...after that, the crap is yours....and they cannot sue you for this after the 30 days are up. It is considered abanding their belongings...no matter what state you are in.