Walk It Through: The Empty Rental
From the landlord's side: a tenant gone quiet, furniture left behind, and a stranger in the unit.
A landlord's tenant stops paying and seems to have moved out, leaving furniture inside.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One unit from the landlord's side. A tenant who returns, a sublease, a housing authority unit and the back rent claim are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Abandoned personal propertyBelongings left after a tenant abandons a rental. They may be disposed of only after a posted and mailed notice gives a date not less than thirty days after mailing to remove them.
- Wrongful occupationA tenant staying in a residential rental while behind in rent, in breach of the lease, or having damaged the property, which a landlord may petition the magistrate or circuit court to end.
- Periodic tenancyA tenancy that runs from period to period, such as month to month. One shorter than a year may be ended by written notice for one full period before the end of a period.
- SquatterA person living in a unit with no rental agreement and no authorization from the tenant, whom an owner need not evict to remove.