What should you do if a tenant leaves their belongings behind? | Contact our trusted property management company in the GTA!

Our property management company in the GTA can help hard-working landlords such as yourself handle a tenant’s abandoned property. We are experienced in dealing with tenant turnovers so that you are informed and prepared to tackle any issues that may arise throughout the moving-out process.

When you work with our professional condo management team in North York, we can advise you on your best course of action regarding the handling of a former tenant’s belongings. Though the process of removing belongings can be a lengthy and complicated one, it is imperative that you get the unit ready for the next available resident.

What is the Residential Tenancies Act?

The Residential Tenancies Act contains a set of rules on the process of dealing with a former tenant’s leftover belongings. These rules allow the tenant to leave their belongings in their former unit without any legal obligations; they include instances such as:

• If the tenant moves out and followed the proper protocols found under a notice, a board order or agreement to terminate the tenancy;
• The landlord evicts the tenant;
• Tenant abandons the rental unit;
• A tenant abandoned their mobile home;
• Tenant passes away.

With numerous complexities regarding your former tenant’s belongings, it is crucial that you collaborate with our property management team that can help you navigate through the correct belonging removal.

Survey the unit that was left behind

The most likely things you will find behind will be furniture and other personal property. We will help you follow a correct process involving the total value of the abandoned property and help you create an inventory of the abandoned property.

As a landlord, we Mareka can help you either return, sell, keep, donate or throw out belongings so that your unit can be made readily available for the next resident.

Contact the tenant regarding their leftover belongings

Part of your duty as a landlord or a superintendent is to try to get in touch with the tenant regardless of how they terminated their tenancy. You can directly call them using the last phone number they have listed on file or send them an email. Here are some of the things to include when you notify the former tenant to collect their belongings from your property:

Pictures of the belongings
The deadline for cleaning the belongings
Where the belongings will be stored until collection
The charge for storing the belongings
Detailed information about the state of the belongings if they do not claim ownership within the deadline

Can you sell abandoned tenant property?

As a landlord, you can sell the tenant’s property after you have given ample notice for collection. In Ontario, if the tenant does not come to grab their leftover property within 30 days, the landlord can either sell, keep or throw away the belongings. The tenant may contact the landlord within that 30-day period to retrieve their belongings, and if the date passes, the landlord is allowed to dispose of the things as they wish.

According to the Residential Tenancies Act, the landlord is allowed to sell the leftover belonging six months after the tenant has left the unit to prevent any negative circumstances including out-of-pocket expenses.

For the most accurate information, please call our office directly to discuss your circumstances.

Finding yourself in a situation where a tenant has left their belongings behind? We can help!

At Mareka, we can help you dodge legal disputes and ensure that you leave on positive terms with your former tenants.

Contact us today at 416-255-7300 to start collaborating with our professional property management team and experience superior tenant satisfaction!