What happens to my improvements after my landlord lost the property?

Full question:

For the past three years I have been renting a one bedroom duplex and recently my landlord lost the property due to continuous miss payment. Without me knowing any of this the bank who now owns the property hired an independent property management company. A rolled-up paper type flyer was left on my gate telling me to send my rent to the following address and if I had any questions to contact the person below. When I came to know of this I immediately attempted to contact this person to know more of the sittuation but my attempt failed. After several messages I finally recieved a phone call from a woman claiming to be the person in charge. </br> Very little information was given to me and again I was told by her to send my rent to the given address. Later on that day I finally got ahold of my ex-landlord only to hear that he had lost the property and an appology. Up until today the current manager has been puting me off and telling me that she will soon take the contract for me to sing. On 11/1/2008 I encounterd a shocking and upsetting senario. Over my three years on the property I have made significant amounts of home improvments which included laying down 100 12'x12' bricks on the little piece of lawn that belongs to my back yard. I told and mutually agreed with my ex-landlord that at the time of my lease end I would take my bricks. He also gave me a foil shed which is not built on to the property. </br> I used the shed to my convience and the property manager aggresivlly asked me move it back because she rented out the front house and told them that would be for thier use. She also said that along with the shed, my bricks and everything in the property was the banks property now.

• Category: Landlord Tenant
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: National

Answer:

The answer will depend on the terms of your lease. Generally, when a new landlord takes over, they must follow the existing lease terms. If you don’t have a written lease for a specific period, you may be considered a month-to-month tenant, which allows the new owner to change terms like rent or amenities.

Regarding improvements you made, the lease typically governs ownership. If your improvements are permanent fixtures that can’t be removed without damage, they usually belong to the property. It’s best if the lease clearly states your right to remove any items you added.

If you made improvements with the landlord's consent, you usually retain ownership of those improvements. However, if they were made without the landlord's knowledge, you might not be able to remove them when the lease ends. Since your agreement with your ex-landlord was verbal, proving the terms could be challenging. Ultimately, a court may need to determine ownership based on the circumstances.

For more specific advice, consider consulting a legal professional familiar with landlord-tenant law in your state.