Auctioning off a tenants belongings

[Cuyahoga Landlord]

Auctioning off a tenants belongings

Background:

We had a tenant failing to pay rent, so the eviction process was guided by a lawyer and done legally.

We had a settlement agreement from the court in which all parties agreed the tenant would vacate the house by a certain date. After that date, the tenant was not out and a writ of restitution was filed. Two days after the court mandated the tenant be out, we followed the proper legal process of having the court bailiff meet us at the house as we took possession of the house, items in the house, and the locks were changed.

All of the tenants belongings were taken to a storage facility.

The tenant was given certified mail to 3 of their known addresses with a 30 notice informing them their belongings would be sold in 30 days if the defendant did not pay the plaintiff the agreed amount of money the court determined for the judgment.

Questions:
If the tenant does not pay the court determined judgment by the specified date:

Can we follow the same process laid out in 5322.03. Procedure for enforcement of owner's lien; rights of good faith purchasers. for storage units to sell his belongings?

If we auction off their belongings as described in the above procedure, do we have to use a licensed auctioneer, or can we simply conduct the auction ourselves?

Do we have to sell the items to someone by auction if they do not meet our minimum asking price, which is what we are owed?

Can we simply outright just sell the items off at our discretion and even keep and use some of the belongings, such as washer and dryer in our other rental homes?

You have a fantastic site and will look into your materials and continue to use and recommend it to others.

Thank You,
Cuyahoga Landlord

[Cuyahoga Landlord]

Does anyone have some advise?

Ohiolandlord, are you able to answer any of my questions?

Thanks,
Cuyahoga Landlord

[ohiolandlord]

Tough questions. This may give you a start at an answer

http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/abandon.html

[Cuyahoga Landlord]

Certainly hundreds of landlords have to had been in this situation before. Is the law so gray in this area that makes them tough questions and everyone has a different answer?

This is a legal court eviction not a self help eviction. Thank you but the above link only deals with illegal evictions. We have several thousand dollars of the tennant's belongings, everything this former tenant owns down to his tooth brush.

The court bailiff told us the tenants belongings are ours to do with what ever we want.

Our lawyer tells us we can not keep the tenants belongings and must make public newspaper notices and auction the belongings off.

We have talked to four licensed auctioneers, none of them want to auction it off as it is too small of a lot of goods and all tell us to simply sell the items ourselves.

Should some kind of legal precedent have been set, or is it in such a gray area nobody has an answer?

Thank You
Cuyahoga Landlord

[ohiolandlord]

It sounds like you didn't read the whole article - some of it might apply in your case. Obviously, I can't give you legal advice since I don't know the entire story.

D. Tips For The Wise Landlord

The best course of action to take when you find yourself in a situation wherein you cannot be sure whether the tenant has abandoned the place is to file an eviction with the courts and get a writ of restitution. If the bailiff conducts the set out after a properly filed eviction, there will be no liability for the landlord if he or she is sued. The money that you spend filing the eviction will likely pale in comparison to the money you spend on an attorney to defend you on a 5321.15 claim. Even in cases where you are sure that the tenant has abandoned, it is a good idea to video tape the condition of the premises so that you can show a court the conditions which led you to believe that the apartment was abandoned, as this may lead the court to the same conclusion.

The wise landlord will make a practice of having tenants sign a document stating that they have left the property voluntarily as of a certain date and that any property left behind is either not theirs or abandoned. You should also preserve any communications with the tenant such as emails or letters in which the tenant stated that he was leaving and not coming back. Making an inventory of any items left behind is not a bad idea either. Storing valuable items in a safe place for a time is also a good idea. This may limit the damages the tenant can assert against you.

[Cuyahoga Landlord]

Thanks Again.

Cuyahoga Landlord

[Cuyahoga Landlord]

I'm posting the final resolution of the situation for those that read the thread in the future.

The tenant came up with a bank check with the money owed within the 30 days of our notice.

Our lawyer had a release paper for him to sign finalizing the situation, declaring he had everything and basically said he could not still sue us.

Although a lose / lose situation, for us it's over. We got our money and the tenant is out. Of course there were still lawyer fees and a lot of aggravation.

So if he could not pay his rent, why did he not just leave, especially after the court told him to. Anyway it's done.