Can a tenant recover personal possessions after a court ordered lockout?
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Can a tenant recover personal possessions after a court ordered lockout?
If so, how?
Asked on May 26, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Mississippi
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
As a general rule, the tenant has the right to recover his or her belongings. The landlord must make them available (or allow him/her to pick them up, or ship them to the tenant) upon request, and if the landlord does not, the tenant may sue for a court order allowing him or her to recover the property, or for its value if it was lost, stolen, or destroyed. The landlord may charge the tenant reasonable storage or shipping costs, if appropriate--that is, the landlord does not have to go out of pocket for the cost of holding onto or providing the property to the tenant.
There are exceptions:
1) Where the tenant clearly indicated that he/she was abandoning the property;
2) If the tenant has not reclaimed it after a reasonable opportunity to do so and notice from the landlord that he or she must get it--in most states, the tenant has from 30 - 90 days to recover his/her property.
3) If there was some written agreement between landlord and tenant which provided that the tenant gave up all rights to anything left behind after lockout.
4) If there was some judgment or court order indicating that anything left in the premises after the lockout would be deemed abandoned.
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