William Bronchick | What to do if a Tenant Abandons Your Property


William Bronchick: Have you ever had a tenant leave in the middle of the night or the middle of an eviction? Did you ever wonder what to do when the tenant abandons the property?


Basically, when a tenant abandons the property, you do not need to file an eviction or wait for the sheriff. You can change the locks.

HOWEVER…


If you are not certain whether the tenant has abandoned the property, you should not change the locks. If you have the keys and your lease allows it, you could enter the premises, but KNOCK FIRST. Whether or not the tenant has abandoned is often a judgment call, looking at a combination of factors, such as:
·         Did the neighbors see them move?
·         Are the utilities shut off?
·         Did the tenant put in a change of address at the post office?
·         Is there any significant furniture left?
·         If you have access, are there sheets on the beds?

Even if the tenant is not sleeping there, they are still “in possession” if they have their personal belongings in the unit and have not shown an intent to abandon these items.

If you do intend to claim abandonment, take pictures, gather evidence and cover all bases to prepare for a possible wrongful lockout claim. 


Definitely, give the tenant notice in writing where you have stored their stuff (if you have anything) and give them adequate time to come get it. If you have ANY doubts, call your landlord–tenant attorney and do the proper legal eviction proceeding. Or, here’s another possibility… said by William Bronchick.

PAY THE TENANTS TO LEAVE!!


If the tenant has NOT abandoned your property, or you aren’t sure, or you messed up and they are coming back for their stuff, you should consider giving “Cash for Keys” to bribe the tenant to give up possession. While not deserving if they are behind on rent, it is smart BUSINESS because you avoid an eviction and possible damage to the property by the tenant.  If you do this, however, make CERTAIN you get the tenant to sign a general release of liability form.  This form, when signed by the tenant, will waive their rights to sue you (even if you messed up and they have a claim).
Make sure you contact an attorney to prepare a good general release of liability form.

Source By: https://bronchicklaw.com/tenant-abandons-property/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Now is the Time to Get into Apartment Investing

Image
If you’ve been buying and flipping or renting single family homes, you may want to look into apartment investing. Yes, I know, you think you need gobs of cash to buy apartments, when the fact is you can buy apartments with little or no cash out of pocket. I’ve done it, my students have done it, and you can do it, too! Why Apartments? Apartments operate on an economy of scale. If you have 10 units and one vacancy you are still 90% occupied. When you lost a tenant on a single family house, you are 100% vacant. Multiple units allow you to spread the risk around. Apartments are cheaper per unit than single family houses. The more units you buy, the cheaper per unit cost. Multiple units means bigger discounts on supplies and materials. It’s easier to negotiate for 10 fridges than one. Multiple units makes professional management more effective. You can be a passive investor in apartments . Depreciation can give you huge tax write-offs against other income. Financi...
Read more

William Bronchick | Creative Real Estate Marketing Ideas in 2018

Image
The estate market continues to grow in 2018. Hence, agents should think about the ways to improve their estate corporate marketing methods this year. This is crucial to have tactics that will help individuals maximize visibility and stay apart from the competition, says William Bronchick . There is a huge competition in estate industry these days, hence individuals needs online and offline marketing strategies. If you are looking for some marketing ideas then you are at right place. In this article, we have compiled a list of estate marketing ideas to help agents stand out in the digital age. Following are some creative Real Estate marketing ideas that you should follow in 2018: Create a Responsive Website More than 30% of visits are from smartphones. Hence, you should make sure that your website is optimized for all platforms (Android, iOS etc.) as well as devices ( smartphone, desktop etc.) . Upgrade the Quality of Photos Actually, inexpert eyes...
Read more

Free Consultations with Lawyers – You Get What You Pay For

Image
William Bronchick : When people are facing a legal issue, they are often attracted by free consultations offered by some lawyers. Getting some kind of legal help without paying a dime is a rare opportunity many wouldn’t want to miss, but only for those who don’t know what they can get from it. There are lawyers who offer free initial consultations, but what you consider initial consultation is not always what it seems to be. They just use them as a trick, a ruse to attract clients and nothing more. There are several reasons why you should avoid free consultations with lawyers. 1.     These initial consultations usually last for less than 30 minutes. That’s not enough time for a lawyer to get a good insight of your problem and give you good legal advice on next steps to take. 2.     That little time is never enough for a lawyer to provide you with tailored legal advice. The best you can get is a general advice about the usual procedure...
Read more