One of your worst nightmares as a landlord is dealing with and evicting a problem tenant from non payment of rent or a breach of lease. Each state has different laws regulating the process for an eviction and how you must handle the process. Then, when the tenant leaves behind personal property, there are laws about proper handling of the property you must follow. Here is one of the best and worst states to be a landlord in and the rules you need to follow for handling a tenant's eviction and abandoned property.

Georgia

The laws regulating evictions are some of the most landlord-friendly in Georgia. Rent is due on the first of the month in Georgia and if it is not paid on the first, the landlord can file an affidavit with the court to begin the eviction lawsuit. The landlord does not have to wait any set number of days before proceeding with the eviction. But, it is recommended the landlord wait three days to give the tenant a chance to pay the late rent or to move out of the apartment.

Next, you can notify your tenant, written or orally, of an eviction. If your tenant does not pay their rent and does not move out, you can request a writ of possession at the court. Once the writ of possession is approved, a Marshal or Deputy Marshal can remove the tenant from your apartment and move all their possessions out on the front yard of your apartment. You are not required to help the tenant store or move their property from the front yard and any items the tenant leaves there are considered abandoned. At this point, you can have any abandoned property taken to the city dump or sold at a yard sale in the front yard.

Indiana

In Indiana, the laws regulating tenant evictions and dealing with their personal property are a bit more complicated. Once your tenant has not paid their rent on time, you can serve them with a 10 day Notice to Quit, to give them time to pay rent or move out. Once you post this notice on the tenant's door, the 10 days begin. 

When the tenant has still not paid or moved out after the ten days, you can file an Immediate Possession with the local courthouse and a hearing date is set for you and the tenant to appear at. This court date is to give the tenant a chance to defend an unlawful eviction case. If your tenant does not show up at the hearing to dispute the eviction, the sheriff can serve your tenant with the Order of Possession. Then, the tenant has 48 hours to vacate the apartment. 

After the tenant has left the apartment, you need to determine if they have left any property behind. If they have, you need to get permission from the courts to remove the property and deliver it to a warehouseman. You need to mail a copy of the notice to your tenant at their last known address along with the address of the warehouseman who will be storing their property.

The warehouseman needs to store the property for up to 90 days. He must also keep track of the cost of storage, transportation, insurance on the property, labor, present or future charges related to the property, expenses necessary to preserve the property, and expenses reasonably incurred in the lawful sale of the property. The warehouseman must exempt and allow the tenant to claim some items, including a week's worth of seasonable clothing, blankets, items for child care and schooling, medically necessary items, and items for use in their trade or business.

This information includes an example of a landlord-friendly and tenant-friendly state for evictions and handling their property. For more info on handling tenant eviction in your state, contact an eviction service.

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