duplexowner
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio
I have an interesting situation that I would like some feedback on. Short Summary...
Tenant gave 30 day notice of their plans to break the lease (6 months early) & I advised them of a two month lease termination fee unless I could rerent it quickly then it would only be 1 month. They paid rent through Jan 31, but moved to Puerto Rico ~mid Jan. They confirmed to me by email they weren't coming back, but said people were coming over to get their furniture. They currently owe gas heating bill to me for Dec (already billed & Jan (not yet billed). Also I got a report from ther other tenant in the building that her typewriter was missing. When I entered the lower unit to fix a burst water pipe, I saw that the tenants friends had packed it up and set it by the door to be moved out with the furniture. At this point, these friends have a key to the place and are messing with other tenants stored goods that were accessible from the shared basement. I changed the locks and put a sign up to call me to get supervised entry to remove additional belongins.
Questions:
1. When can I consider the Apartment abandoned & go in and start turning it? I know they aren't coming back, so regardless of being current with rent through 31 Jan can I go in now?
2. How should I treat the furniture? Particularly if it is not moved out by 31 Jan? Can I consider it abandoned & sell it to recover monies owed?
3. I'm planning to withold their deposit and apply it towards unpaid utilities and the two month lease termination fee...any issues here?
4. Any issues with changing the locks? Their friends aren't on the lease and can hardly take issue with my attempts to protect the property and other tenants belongings from someone who shouldn't have a key in the first place.
5. They moved to Puerto Rice (to manage rental property of all things) and pretty much left about all the info they could without leaving their exact address (ie employer name/address & city) Any ideas on how to get them served in PR?
6. Would this issue best be handled in small claims, since they are already moved out? Or should I still file an eviction to get damages? Damages are about $1200 after applying their security deposit.
Thanks for any thoughts on this!
I have an interesting situation that I would like some feedback on. Short Summary...
Tenant gave 30 day notice of their plans to break the lease (6 months early) & I advised them of a two month lease termination fee unless I could rerent it quickly then it would only be 1 month. They paid rent through Jan 31, but moved to Puerto Rico ~mid Jan. They confirmed to me by email they weren't coming back, but said people were coming over to get their furniture. They currently owe gas heating bill to me for Dec (already billed & Jan (not yet billed). Also I got a report from ther other tenant in the building that her typewriter was missing. When I entered the lower unit to fix a burst water pipe, I saw that the tenants friends had packed it up and set it by the door to be moved out with the furniture. At this point, these friends have a key to the place and are messing with other tenants stored goods that were accessible from the shared basement. I changed the locks and put a sign up to call me to get supervised entry to remove additional belongins.
Questions:
1. When can I consider the Apartment abandoned & go in and start turning it? I know they aren't coming back, so regardless of being current with rent through 31 Jan can I go in now?
2. How should I treat the furniture? Particularly if it is not moved out by 31 Jan? Can I consider it abandoned & sell it to recover monies owed?
3. I'm planning to withold their deposit and apply it towards unpaid utilities and the two month lease termination fee...any issues here?
4. Any issues with changing the locks? Their friends aren't on the lease and can hardly take issue with my attempts to protect the property and other tenants belongings from someone who shouldn't have a key in the first place.
5. They moved to Puerto Rice (to manage rental property of all things) and pretty much left about all the info they could without leaving their exact address (ie employer name/address & city) Any ideas on how to get them served in PR?
6. Would this issue best be handled in small claims, since they are already moved out? Or should I still file an eviction to get damages? Damages are about $1200 after applying their security deposit.
Thanks for any thoughts on this!