Can I recover the repair charges to leases premises by selling of tenants property left?

Full question:

My tenant has abandoned the rental premises without giving me any notice. I didn’t know about it until I went to collect my rent yesterday. He has caused a lot of damage to the front room and the kitchen. The beds in the bedrooms are broken and majority of the glasswork interiors in the house is damaged. All this repair work would cost me a bomb. Can I recover the repair charges by selling of his property?

• Category: Abandoned Property
• Subcategory: Landlord Tenant
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: North Dakota

Answer:

There are too many points to be noted in this case. The tenant had abandoned the property, he has caused damages to your property and he has left behind his property in the rental house. the law says that the landlord may terminate the lease if there is destruction cause to the property leased. So your lease may be terminated.  Now about the tenants abandoned property, if the value of the property is not more than 2500 dollars then you may retain such property an dispose it f without any legal process after giving him a 28 days’ notice period to the tenant(if you can locate him or have his alternative address). Or dispose it off after the expiry of 28 days if you don’t know his whereabouts. This 28 days period starts from the date you got to know that the premises have been abandoned by the tenant.  If there is no response to the notice, or after 28 days of waiting, if you want, you can sell the property and take the proceeds from the sale of the property.  You may also recover, from the tenant’s security deposit, any storage and moving expenses incurred in disposing of the property (if it is not covered from the sale of his property) which would be in excess of the proceeds from the sale.
 
Here is the relevant law for more information:
 
N.D. Cent. Code, § 47-16-30.1:

Abandoned property -- Disposal by lessor.

Property with a total estimated value of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars which is left on the premises of a leased dwelling may be retained by the lessor and disposed of without legal process twenty-eight or more days after the lessor received actual notice that the lessee has vacated the premises or twenty-eight or more days after it reasonably appears to the lessor that the lessee has vacated the premises. The lessor is entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the property. The lessor may recover, from the lessee's security deposit, any storage and moving expenses in excess of the proceeds from the sale incurred in disposing of the property. If the lessor removes the abandoned property from the dwelling unit after a judgment of eviction has been obtained and the special execution has been served, the lessor has a lien upon the property for the reasonable amount of any storage and moving expenses and may retain possession of the property until the charges have been paid. The lien does not have priority over a prior perfected security interest in the property.
 
N.D. Cent. Code, § 47-16-10:
Injuries to real property -- Must be repaired by lessee.
The lessee of real property must repair all deteriorations or injuries thereto occasioned by the lessee's ordinary negligence.
 
N.D. Cent. Code, § 47-16-14:
When a lease of real property terminates.
The leasing of real property terminates:
     1. At the end of the term agreed upon;
     2. By the mutual consent of the parties;
     3. By the lessee's acquiring title to the property leased superior to that of the lessor; or
     4. By the destruction of the property leased.