Landlord Question and Answer Forum

My tenants gave me a written notice saying they will be out by the 20th of January. As of last night, they still have the keys and have left air conditioners and large freezer and refrigerator plus other stuff. They claim they still can't find a truck to move the large stuff. Their lease is a year, from September 5, 2014 to September 4th, 2015. Their next rent payment will be due on February 1st. If they are not out by the first, what will they owe me? The month of February or per diem? Should I give them any written notices or just leave it be? My plan right now is to leave it be, and take them to small claims court when I get the keys back to claim as much as I legally can. This is Louisiana. Please advise and thank you!!

Start the eviction process to reclaim they keys to the place. If you have written notice of the move out date you only need to hold on to the personal belongings for 30 days or what ever your state requires. You can pay to move it to storage or negotiate and can recover the costs. The fact is that you need to prepare the property for the next tenants. Since they are officially out you can use your kets to get in for the time being and also change the lock once you have new tenants ready to go.

Posted by Justin R, IL on Thursday, January 29, 2015