I own a duplex and one tennant was an elderly women who had to be placed in a nursing home. She went into the nursing home 9-30-13 and her son says she can’t pay her portion of the rent for october (she recieved section 8 subsidy). He is also giving me a song and dance about being a disabled veteran and not being able to remove her belongs in any kind of a timely manner so that I can clean and show the unit to try and get it rented for next month (November). I know there are a few other landlords on here and I’m wondering if you guys have had to deal with this before (Jammer???). I’m going to contact my lawyer when their office opens this AM, but I would think this would fall under the perview of abandoned property since she has moved to another residence. Anybody have experience here?
Put everything in a storage unit in her name and pay the first month cash. Tell her and her son it’s all there. If then don’t get it or pay its their fault. Now I’m not sure the legality of that but I know a guy who’s done that a few times before
Well first off while I don’t own property maybe I just don’t have the right mentality but if you know she had to move to a nursing home I would not be a dick and just cast her shit out.
Throw it into storage, give the son another month to come grab and and let him know he has to flip the bill. If he does not then sell what you can and dump the rest.
While I sympatize with it being difficult for him this is part of how I pay my bills and my creditors don’t care how I come up with the money to pay them so I don’t have the luxury of just letting the unit sit while he figures shit out. I actually have a 1 car garage with nothing in it at that property that I could put her items in. I just want to make sure I can legally do that before I open myself to a bunch of liability.
Talk to your lawyer first before you do anything. A friend on here had a problem with a tenant with their belongings and cops were involved, and was basically told he he has no rights because it was rented to the tenant. Crazy
EDIT: It’s better to stay on good terms and get paid “someday” then to be on shit terms and have them drag ass and never see another dime in rent and wasted lawyer fees.
Well Once her last paid month is up that contract has now ended no? In which case the property is now yours again. I could see issue with just chucking it, but “storing” it I can’t see it being a problem. However if this current month is still paid for I think that might be an issue…
No idea im just speculating.
Her son came right out and said there is absolutely no way they will pay me any amount of money at any time and his only concern is looking out for his mother.
As of today she has not paid Octobers rent. It was September that was paid.
WEll unless there is some other long term contract conditions set, I’d say at this point the contract is void and you are free to do what you want with your property. However I don’t think you can legally throw her shit out so to speak. I want to say you do have to store it for a certain time, and you can go after them for the costs of storage.
WARNING do not go by a word of this bc this is the result of searching lexusnexus for 3 minutes.
Under abandoned property laws in new york I don’t think there is anything you can do. I couldn’t find an exact section for landlord/tenant relationship but most things refer to abandoned property as over three years. not saying you have to sit on it for that long, just saying that what you can do is prob under something else besides abandoned property. and that’s why you have a lawyer and pay them. go talk to them. don’t take any advice on a forum, esp a car one where people are just talking about what they think the law should be.
Do you have any clauses to protect you from this type of situation in your lease contract???
Since this just happened yesterday and rent isnt even overdue you probably have to give it time, maybe a month so the rent is actually overdue.
Rent is usually paid on the first for the upcoming month. If it’s not paid on the first any day after (including the first) the person is living rent free and stealing.
Also another clause that could be in his lease agreement. I have a 5 day window to pay then late fees thereafter. Beyond that I start the eviction process…
Lease agreement or not New York State protects the renters, not landlords. Talk to your lawyer before you start making plans to ship her stuff off to a dumpster or storage unit.
I wont mis-guide you. There are laws with regards to section 8, your lease agreement and of course NYS. There is a set time period you must hold their property as well. There is also a path for recovery. Consult your attorney. If you don’t have an attorney on the ball , real estate wise, contact Paul Knapp (Schiller and Knapp) in Latham. There are several things happening here.
lol. Yea, def advise against taker her shit out.
Bingo.
Well it turns out my father inlaw went to school with the women’s son and was able to get in touch with him this morning. He has agreed to remove her belongings by Saturday evening. I’m fully aware of how all of NY state laws side with the tennant especially when it comes to awarding damages and what not. So hopefully this will be the end of it and I can get the unit cleaned up and on the market Sunday.
awesome, sounds like it is going to end up ok. Sounds like the perfect time to freshen up on knowing your rights as a home owner.
If you do not have a really good lease, PM me your email and I will send you a copy of one. It will have to be tweaked and massaged to work for you, but it is a good starting point.