Landlord Question and Answer Forum

By mistake, I rented to a friend that was down on his luck and he has been in my rental house for 17 months now and has never paid anything. I should also mention no contract or rental agreement got signed, it was all verbal. My question is between rent owed and damages to property, Cops kicked door in to serve bad check warrant on tenant and other damage, He owes close to 7,000 to me. He has not been seen at the property for 3 months or longer and all his stuff is there yet. What are my options legally to possibly remove items or all from the house and hold them for ransom so to speak, If tenant even ever shows back up for them or to pay anything. I want to clean house out and get rented again and maybe down road sell the valuable belongings left to recover a portion of what tenant owes. Is this legal to do so or what is the best way to handle this without a mess in courts, etc. Thanks