[StaryStaryNight]

I Have A Tenant Who Moved Out Of Our House When We Had A Plumbing Leak. She Has Called Twice In The Last Three Weeks, But Did Not Give Us A Phone Number Or Forwarding Address Either Time, Even Though We Requested It. I Tried To Find Her On The Web, But The Leads Were A De3ad End Of Past Addresses, Including Mine. To My Horror When I Entered The Apartment To Remove The Damage Ceiling Tiles And Inspect For Water Damage, There Were Clothes Everywhere, Crayon Marks On All The Walls, Caked On Dirt Behind The Stove And Refrigerator, Closets Stuffed With Toys, Mildew On The Closet Walls Unseeable Without Moving The Clothes, Kool Aid Stains On The Wall To Wall Carpet. Now She Wants The King Sized Bed Back That Her Old Boyfriend Claimed Over The Weekend. The Old Boyfriend Lived Here For A While.

I Have Stored Her Personals In Contractors Bags Under The Front Deck, The Toys In A Dry Spot In The Basement, Her Cribs And Youth Bed In My Spare Bedroom.

She Has Not Paid Us In Three Months, But She Only Owes Us One Months Rent, Cause Of Her Security And Rent Advance When Moving In. She Has Lost Her Job , So She Was Applying For Public Assistance.

I Have A Disability (tbi) And So Have Been Further Disabled By The Many Hours I Have Spend On This Cleaning Ordeal Over The Past Two To Three Weeks. My Symptoms Have Become More Intense And I Have Become Unable To Rationally Handle This Ordeal. My Husband And Disabled Son Are Also Exhausted By This Clean Up Effort. We Have Received The Insurance Check, But It Has Barely Covered The Materials.

[Fr_Chuck]

You can not afford to be a landlord, I will say this is actually common in many rentals, I have had them move out and take the stove and frig and another time between renters someone broke in and stole copper pipes in the home and other fixtures. I had to often sleep over in the rental homes when empty to protect them from being broke into. Once I had the building set fire.

But having to repaint between tennants is normal ( actually in many states it is even required that you paint between each renter no matter how long they were there) I stopped using carpet and went to wood floors since they can be sanded and restained cheap if you do it yourself.

So basically you have what I would put as a average mess between renters.

One problem I bet you moved her belongings without permission ? Was the furniture moved out I will assume, if so OK, but if all of her stuff was still in the house, you can't touch it, without a formal order from the court, or you become liable for it.

Normally this type of clean up happens painting and dry wall without any insurance check,

Plus are you running a chairity? Not paid in three months, 10 days after the first payment was due, you give them notice, and after that you take them to housing court and evict them, If you start listening to the sob stories, you will have this happen time and time again and again.

[Rule]

Little help now but in the future rent to older tenants only. Contact your local health authority to deem left belonging unsafe. Other wise you legally have to keep tenants belongings 6 months. P/u tenant/landlord law book. Good luck.