Many Propery Managers are confronted with one more challenge when
inspecting a now vacant rental unit . The exiting tenants have left behind
Personal Property . What should they do with all of this stuff ?
The “PA Landlord Tenant Act” requires tenants to remove their personal
propery from the rental unit when they have relinquished possession. Regardless
of why they leave , tenants have 10 days to communicate their intentions
( to the Property Manager) that they want to retrieve their property. The LT Act
requires Landlords To give the tenants notice that all personal property needs to be removed within 10 days of abandoning the property.
If the tenants communicate their intention to collect their abandoned personal
property , then the Landlord must safe guard the tenant’s property ( for as much
as 30days) . The Landlord May choose the location where the tenants property
will be stored for 30 days. It should be geographically close to the rental unit and
carefully stored. The a actual costs of moving and storing can be passed on to the
tenants. But sometimes they don’t come back to retrieve it .
So how does it get disposed ? After the appropriate time frame expires (10 or 30
days ) ,the Landlord has no further responsibility to the tenants and may dispose
Of the property by whatever means they choose . Legally if the Landlord sells it ,
they may only keep enough of the proceeds to cover any outstanding monies owed. Any excess should be forwarded to the tenants. The good news for Landlords who use Professional Property Managers ,is their leases have the required 10 already in them ,so notice has been given ( and the storage requirements won’t become 30 days).
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