I have a customer that should have been in our last Auction , with that said. He is now 96 days late, we have called , left messages, text, sent emails. Called his Alternate contact as well. I need this space. What are my rights? Can I just say he has abandoned his unit?
March Chase on Thursday 09/14/2017 at 10:28 AM
You cannot claim his unit as abandoned unless the following has occurred: his unit has to be past due and without a locking device, i.e. he has to have been the one to leave his lock off or remove it and not you as a result of processing the unit for auction. Furthermore, you need to have proof that you sent an abandonment form to his last known address and that it came back or you did not hear from him within the allotted amount of time, which I believe is 5 days. The best case scenario would be for him to execute for the form giving permission and agreeing that he has abandoned so you can dispose of it. Failure to contact him or his failure to respond does NOT constitute abandonment. Additionally, if he's not responding then terminating his lease doesn't do any good either. Your best case scenario would be to offer a settlement agreement with him to avoid auction and then use the auction as a last resort.
John L. Gurley on Thursday 09/14/2017 at 10:33 AM
March,
Do you have an abandonment form you would be willing to share? I would like to have something we could email to a tenant & have them e-sign it stating that they longer have an interest in the contents of the unit. Thank you!
Kevin Leebrick on Wednesday 09/13/2017 at 11:22 AM
I suppose you could say that, but you better have some proof. I would simply terminate his lease by not choosing to renew it. if that period is more then 21 days away sell it at auction.