33-1370

33-1370. Abandonment; notice; remedies;
personal property; definition

A. If a dwelling unit is abandoned after the time prescribed in subsection H of
this section, the landlord shall send the tenant a notice of abandonment by certified
mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the tenant's last known address and to any
of the tenant's alternate addresses known to the landlord. The landlord shall also post
a notice of abandonment on the door to the dwelling unit or any other conspicuous place
on the property for five days.

B. Five days after notice of abandonment has been both posted and mailed, the
landlord may retake the dwelling unit and rerent the dwelling unit at a fair rental value
if no personal property remains in the dwelling unit. After the landlord retakes the
dwelling unit, money held by the landlord as a security deposit is forfeited and shall be
applied to the payment of any accrued rent and other reasonable costs incurred by the
landlord by reason of the tenant's abandonment.

C. If the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, the landlord shall make reasonable
efforts to rent it at a fair rental. If the landlord rents the dwelling unit for a term
beginning prior to the expiration of the rental agreement, it is deemed to be terminated
as of the date the new tenancy begins. If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts
to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental or if the landlord accepts the abandonment as
a surrender, the rental agreement is deemed to be terminated by the landlord as of the
date the landlord has notice of the abandonment. If the tenancy is from month to month or
week to week, the term of the rental agreement for this purpose shall be deemed to be a
month or a week, as the case may be.

D. After the landlord has retaken possession of the dwelling unit, the landlord may
store the tenant's personal possessions in the unoccupied dwelling unit that was
abandoned by the tenant, in any other available unit or any storage space owned by the
landlord or off the premises if a dwelling unit or storage space is not available. The
landlord shall notify the tenant of the location of the personal property in the same
manner prescribed in subsection A of this section.

E. The landlord shall hold the tenant's personal property for a period of ten days
after the landlord's declaration of abandonment. The landlord shall use reasonable care
in holding the tenant's personal property. If the landlord holds the property for this
period and the tenant makes no reasonable effort to recover it, the landlord may sell the
property, retain the proceeds and apply them toward the tenant's outstanding rent or
other costs which are covered in the lease agreement or otherwise provided for in title
33, chapter 10 or title 12, chapter 8 and have been incurred by the landlord due to the
tenant's abandonment. Any excess proceeds shall be mailed to the tenant at the tenant's
last known address. A tenant does not have any right of access to that property until
the actual removal and storage costs have been paid in full, except that the tenant may
obtain clothing and the tools, apparatus and books of a trade or profession and any
identification or financial documents, including all those related to the tenant's
immigration status, employment status, public assistance or medical care. If provided by
a written rental agreement, the landlord may destroy or otherwise dispose of some or all
of the property if the landlord reasonably determines that the value of the property is
so low that the cost of moving, storage and conducting a public sale exceeds the amount
that would be realized from the sale.

F. For a period of twelve months after the sale the landlord shall:

1. Keep adequate records of the outstanding and unpaid rent and the sale of the
tenant's personal property.

2. Hold any excess proceeds which have been returned as undeliverable for the
benefit of the tenant.

G. If the tenant notifies the landlord in writing on or before the date the
landlord sells or otherwise disposes of the personal property that the tenant intends to
remove the personal property from the dwelling unit or the place of safekeeping, the
tenant has five days to reclaim the personal property. To reclaim the personal property
the tenant must only pay the landlord for the cost of removal and storage for the period
the tenant's personal property remained in the landlord's safekeeping.

H. In this section "abandonment" means either the absence of the tenant from the
dwelling unit, without notice to the landlord for at least seven days, if rent for the
dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for ten days and there is no reasonable evidence
other than the presence of the tenant's personal property that the tenant is occupying
the residence or the absence of the tenant for at least five days, if the rent for the
dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for five days and none of the tenant's personal
property is in the dwelling unit.