Author Topic: Things tenants leave behind  (Read 4225 times)

monarda

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Things tenants leave behind
« on: August 23, 2014, 05:54:42 PM »
Do your tenants leave anything behind when they move out?
We have a clearly written move-out check list, indicating to be sure that everything has been removed from the storage areas, and the state law says anything left behind is officially abandoned.

Well, we clean out the basement every couple of years, and last week we found all sorts of things... Since we don't do a thorough basement clean every tenant turnover,  we have no idea who this stuff might belong to.

This time we found a broken floor lamp, laundry basket, blankets,  suitcase full of clothes (the name on the suitcase tag was never a tenant of ours), boxes of shoes, espresso machine, artwork,  dishes, pots and pans, more shoes, still more shoes,   ....

and..... a vibrator.   

Off to goodwill with much of it.  [We thought we might hide the vibrator in one of the pairs of shoes so someone at goodwill might have a laugh like we did.  Or is that being mean?]

Any good stories from your found items?


 

Another Reader

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2014, 06:27:36 PM »
It's expensive when they leave furniture.  I had one leave two old sofas on the covered patio.  That stuff gets hauled away to the landfill. 

One apparently had a Pampered Chef cookware business.  She moved in a hurry.  She left a lot of stuff that was pretty useful, along with a refrigerator full of rotting food.  An elderly lady poking through recycle bins on the street walked by.  I asked her if she was interested in the stuff.  She spoke only Spanish, but motioned down the street and said "my daughter."  Daughter collects stuff for yard sales.  She took everything I did not want and all the tenant's teenaged daughter's clothes, which were, um, not appropriate for a teenager.  Helped me throw the rest of the stuff out.

We evicted a couple of heavy drinkers.  There were probably 10 or 15 partially full bottles of vodka, gin, and assorted whiskey on the counter or in the cabinet underneath.  Not the cheap stuff, either.  If they had only spent the money on the rent instead....

Anything that's useful and portable I donate to a thrift shop benefitting an animal rescue.  Anything that's hauled away gets charged against the security deposit.

ambimammular

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2014, 06:40:42 PM »
My folks had duplexes. I helped haul out 5 mattresses for a two bedroom place. They left food to rot in the fridge and a heap of wet clothes in the furnace room. That all sat there for days before we could get in to clean. I don't know how people could live like that.

That's why I buy REITs instead of properties.

malacca

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2014, 08:01:52 PM »
My mom had a property once. Tenant was a pig. Gas & elec got turned off. Child welfare took the kids. She left just about everything she owned - including two huge dildos.

Called a thrift shop and made a deal with them - take all the big stuff and you can have everything. I only had to deal with the small stuff - a few hours of work.

My buddy has a dozen rentals. He also had a double dildo clean up. He put them out next to the dumpster - they were gone in a few hours.


plantingourpennies

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2014, 03:22:52 PM »
40 gallon fish tank! Sold it for 50 bucks on C-list.

Best,
Mr. PoP

mooreprop

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2014, 02:08:47 PM »
Most interesting thing left behind was .... a dead monkey!

Another tenant left everything behind.  She was the only tenant we have ever evicted even though she was paying her rent.  The condition was that bad.  She threatened to cast a spell on my husband when he went to take possession, thinking she had moved out.  On the possession date, he yelled "landlord - anyone home?" , but no answer.  When he started throwing the garbage into the dumpster, she emerged from a closet and claimed she was a witch, threatened him with a sword, and placed a hex on him.  (He left and filed papers to have the sheriff remove her, of course)  So, I guess that was another interesting thing to leave behind .... a witch!

ingrownstudentloans

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2014, 02:48:37 PM »
I found a machete left behind by one young couple....not sure what they used it for as it is an urban one-bedroom rental with no lawn/backyard to maintain.

Bobberth

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2014, 04:01:44 PM »
My very first tenant left me one of those big trampolines.  The kids enjoyed it a few years until the weather got to and we didn't want to spend any money on something we never would have purchased.

Got 2 nice leather coats out in the garage right now to see if I can get rid of the cigarette smell.

Got a few things here and there but mostly a lot of junk.  I do try and send the better stuff to Goodwill.

usmarine1975

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2014, 12:13:06 PM »
Best finds for us have been leather coats, Bikes, Fishing Spear.  Family members have found fun video's, bought a house from someone that was a photographer and a box full of nude photo's was in the basement.  I was nice I took them and burned them.  If I was one of the model's I would have been horrified that they were left like that.  Worst I have ever had was filling a 3 ton dumpster with nothing but crap.

Blindsquirrel

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2014, 08:51:15 PM »
  Wow, long list here of odd stuff-
weirdest- a dead 2.5 foot long lizard in a freezer. (WTF?) thankfully still frozen. naked pictures of who knows who, Porn DVD collection of stuff about as weird as it gets. stuff edible under wear- into the trash-

Best stuff- long list turkey fryer- ie burner, empty propane tank, and giant kettle, propane grill, incredible king sized sleigh bed that must have cost a GD stack-it was a bitch to get out of the house and heavy as heck. now our guests snooze on it.  Christmas ornaments by the ton. 3 ton Craftsman floor jack.  An entire set of living room furniture. huge stacks of clothes, nice speakers, futon. Nice unopened bottles of wine. Kitchen gadgets,  about 100 cans of various food- veggies, ravioli, soup etc. Nice set of shelves.

Worst stuff- 25 gallons of waste oil, a trashed hide a bed couch that weighed about 400-500 lbs, a GD super nice living cat about 10 months old that they abandoned-we found a home for her but that really pissed me off.
A cheap pleather couch- incidentally, never allow one of those in your house. I threw it on the burn pile (we live in the sticks)  and it went up like a pan of gasoline- I mean flames 30 feet in the air, roaring fire, jet black plume of smoke and burning end to end and top to bottom within 90 seconds.  I was shocked at how fast and how violently that burned. It was filled with little Styrofoam balls/beads and that couch would kill everyone in a house with smoke inhalation even if the flames did not get them.
 I am always amazed at how much stuff broke people have. 
Saddest stuff- wedding picture album

mooreprop

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Re: Things tenants leave behind
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2014, 01:27:50 PM »
I almost forgot this one - a dog with her 5 puppies.