Full question:
My tenant was never regular in paying rent. He often used to clear his arears after four –five months. This time he has been away from the rental house for more than 6 months and has not paid a penny for all the six months. Can I call this abandonment of rental house by my tenant and throw away all his belongings so that I can rent out the house to some other tenant?
- Category: Abandoned Property
- Subcategory: Landlord Tenant
- Date:
- State: Vermont
Answer:
You may consider your tenant's absence as abandonment of the rental premises. However, there is a specific process to follow before you can remove their belongings. You can terminate the lease and rent the house to a new tenant, but if you do not rent it out, your tenant will still be responsible for the rent until the lease ends.
If you believe the tenant has abandoned the house, you should make reasonable efforts to confirm this before proceeding. Contact the tenant to ascertain their intentions. Once you are sure the house is abandoned, send a written notice to the tenant's last known address, informing them that you plan to dispose of their property if they do not claim it within sixty days. You must wait for sixty days after sending this notice before disposing of their belongings. During this time, you should store their property in a safe and secure location. However, you can dispose of any trash or garbage immediately.
If the tenant does not claim their property within the sixty days, it will become yours, and you may dispose of it. If they do claim it, they must provide a description of the property and pay any reasonable storage fees.
Relevant law: 9 V.S.A. § 4462 outlines the process for handling abandoned property and tenant obligations.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.