Eviction Personal Property

[Frank]

Hello All,

I have not had the "pleasure" of facing this situation before and thought I would reach out tomy fellow Rein members to gain a better understanding of my options.

One of my tenants has abondoned a property and left many personal items in the home, garage and backyard. Included are large items such as a BBQ and truck trailer.

To provide some background, I have been going through an eviction process with this problem tenant. Following Christmas he informed me he would be moving out. He agreed to provide me with the keys and outstanding rent on Jan 2. None of this has happened and he has now abandoned the home. In addition, I found out he had the locks changed during Christmas and I don`t have the current keys.

Am I able to call a locksmith and have him provide me with new keys? Also am I able to have his personal items picked up and sent to the garbage dump?

Thank you for your time,
Frank

 

[brentdavies]

Hi Frank,

For your future referance, go to Alta Gov website, Service, and get a free copy online of the residential tenancy act. Also another website called landlordandtenants.org is a great referance website for these types of questions.

In my view, in Alberta

You can immediately change the lock, as under the residential tenancy act,(RTA) a key must be immediately available to either party. So your tenant is in breach of the RTA.

Hints on if the tenant has abondoned the suite, is his toothbrush still there? Personal clothes and belongings? Unopened mail is the first indicator that they are indeed gone. Phone disconnected?


If you are positive he has abondoned the property, then do an inventory and determine the "resale value" of the goods. If the total value is over $2000, you must store the property and then follow the steps under the RTA, and then sell the property at a public auction.
However, if the goods are under $2000 you may dispose the goods immediately. (Note food and beds and cribs are not part of the evaluation and should be destroyed)
It is your evaluation of the items left. The BBQ may be 5 years old and cost $500 to replace, but what would it bring in the bargin finder? A truck trailer is worth how much? Used furniture is typically worth 1\4 of the orginial cost.
In twenty five years of dealing with tenants, I have yet to find anything of value left by the tenants. No boats, skidoos etc.

In the case of pets, send them directly to the SPCA.

SO, Go to work and move forward.

good luck

Brent

 

[Frank]

QUOTE (brentdavies @ Jan 8 2008, 05:03 PM) Hi Frank,

For your future referance, go to Alta Gov website, Service, and get a free copy online of the residential tenancy act. Also another website called landlordandtenants.org is a great referance website for these types of questions.

In my view, in Alberta

You can immediately change the lock, as under the residential tenancy act,(RTA) a key must be immediately available to either party. So your tenant is in breach of the RTA.

Hints on if the tenant has abondoned the suite, is his toothbrush still there? Personal clothes and belongings? Unopened mail is the first indicator that they are indeed gone. Phone disconnected?


If you are positive he has abondoned the property, then do an inventory and determine the "resale value" of the goods. If the total value is over $2000, you must store the property and then follow the steps under the RTA, and then sell the property at a public auction.
However, if the goods are under $2000 you may dispose the goods immediately. (Note food and beds and cribs are not part of the evaluation and should be destroyed)
It is your evaluation of the items left. The BBQ may be 5 years old and cost $500 to replace, but what would it bring in the bargin finder? A truck trailer is worth how much? Used furniture is typically worth 1\4 of the orginial cost.
In twenty five years of dealing with tenants, I have yet to find anything of value left by the tenants. No boats, skidoos etc.

In the case of pets, send them directly to the SPCA.

SO, Go to work and move forward.

good luck

Brent

Brent, thank you very much for this information. I have reviewed the act and am meeting with my lawyer shortly to get this all worked out.

Thanks again,
Frank

 

[brentmatheson]

I`m just finishing up a similar situation. The court gave me possession of my unit back, with a lot of the tenant`s stuff still in there. She appeared to be moving out--bed and furniture were gone, but bathroom/kitchen stuff and gerbils remained. The tenant ended up leaving the province for a few months for personal reasons (before she cleared everything out), so we were forced to deal with it. We probably could have thrown everything out because of the dollar amount. In the end, we got her to send us an e-mail saying we could throw everything out except for a few items (baby pictures, coffee maker, and prescription drugs). We happily agreed to send these items to her once she paid us the court judgement!

Brent