My tenant abandons the property, what should I do?
One ugly moment of property management is handling an abandoned property. Abandoned property can be a pain in the flesh, as you have to handle unpaid rents, determine if the property was really abandoned and even spending money to get things right. Some ugly situation might arise, forcing your tenant to abandon the property. They may leave unexpectedly, but what should you do?
To be sure that your property was really abandoned, there are certain things you will notice like overgrown grass, and mail stacked up, just to mention a few.
Once you have confirmed that your property was really abandoned, it is time to take action. What then should you do? Well, the first thing to do is to call them, and if for any reason you cannot reach them, drive to the property to make more inquiries. If you happen to find any signs that it is abandoned, then start the eviction process by posting a notification letter to the front door asking them to call your number if the property hasn’t been abandoned. You should now send another copy of the letter as a certified mail.
If the tenant doesn’t show up, then it is time to regain possession of the property as fast as possible. Since you have dropped a letter, you can regain possession faster, but if not, it will take like one month to reclaim the house.
You should rekey the property after five days, then carryout a full move-out inspection to note down damages above normal use. You have to be sure that the tenant is responsible legally for any damage done when you send out the final bill. Even if they refuse paying, it is fine, as you have completed an important process.
Now that you have penned down the damages, carry on with the eviction. Now you can make repairs and put the property in order again since you want to have a new tenant as quickly as possible in the property. You should get your property ready for listing.
Once you have proof that your property has been abandoned by a tenant, you shouldn’t be waiting to see if the tenant will come back. While you should hope that your tenant comes back since you don’t want your property to be vacant, you shouldn’t just hold onto that, and act as quickly as possible. Abandonment keeps you in a difficult situation, but you have to be swift and proactive. Respond quickly and figure out what happened because with this you can quickly find a new tenant. If you decide to wait for the tenant that abandoned your property to come back, you might wait forever. You keep losing money as long as your property remains vacant.
Your property is a priced asset, and you shouldn’t allow it to sit vacant for long just because a tenant has abandoned it. Even if the rent is still on, never leave things to assumption, make the bold step of finding out if your tenant has abandoned your property, and with the tips above, you should be fine getting another tenant as quick as possible.
