I closed on the purchase of a house on April 27th. The seller notified a roommate (who was "not" a tenant) to move on April 4th. He moved his furniture on April 12 but left 4 broken down vehicles, and 2 garages wall-to-wall with things. He is dragging his feet on moving because he's angry at the seller for selling the property. I contacted an attorney who said I would need to file a court order in Nashville, TN (Davidson County) in the General Sessions Court, to serve him with an order to remove his things. However, when I called the General Sessions Court I was told their warrants would not apply as the warrants are either civil warrants to recover money, a recovery warrant to retrieve property or a detainer warrant to move the person out if he is living in the house, which he is not.

I was also told to just file suit in small claims court for removal of objects, but the General Sessions Court person I spoke with said it would not be them. I am so confused and tired. Where do I turn?

Hello owner:

You say he wasn't a tenant. However, if he paid rent (if even just to his roommate), he was a tenant. As the new owner, you inherited his tenancy. I don't know if the seller had the right to tell him to vacate on April 4th. If he didn't (and I'll bet he didn't), you also inherit the defect in the lease, and you'll have to cure it by giving him 30 days notice.

I know, I know, he's gone. But, I wrote the above so that you'd understand that he still could be considered a legal tenant, since he could argue that he never got legal notice.

Therefore, you can't touch his stuff. Here's your problem. If he's a tenant (and I think he is), you have to give him 30 days notice or evict him. The General Sessions Court clerk was wrong – a detainer warrant was the thing. No, he wasn't living in the house, but his stuff was in the garage. That's a distinction without a legal difference.

In either case, it looks like he and his stuff will be gone before you can evict him or the notice takes effect.

This was a problem for the seller - not you. If you suffer damages, you might be able to collect from the seller.

excon

Once you bought the property if he was not moved out, he is a tenant,
So you evict him, have him served with notice to quit, and if he does not get the things out, you file for a formal eviction.
You are a lot better off going on the aspect that he is living there.

In TN there is a loop hole, a missing law, for a person who moves out and leaves his property, you can't evict them if they are not living in the home, if you "assume" he is living there and you can't catch him at the home, then you can evict him and have the courts issues a order and then sit his stuff out.

But ifyou tell them he is not living there, just storing things, you should get an attorney, he will write up a notice that you will dispose of his property in a certain number of days and you have it delivered using legal service. ( I was told that posting it on the door is OK, but I would use a service if they can't hand it to him let them post it on the door, that way you have legal proof of legal delivery.

Then you are allowed to sit the stuff out.

It is a pain to get the stuff out and expect it to be another 3 weeks to get all for the legal notices done, posted and the such.

But minus the cars I just had to do the same thing here in TN, yep, could not evict since he was not living there, the power company had shut off electric for non payment, there was mold in the fridge, but since he had moved out and was living somewhere else, and had just left all of his clothes, kids clothes, toys photos, everything, but since they were not living there, could not file an eviction.
It is a pain, and TN needs to fix that loophole in their law

I believe legally after 30 days you can dispose of the items left on the property you bought. It is considered abandoned property.

This post is from 2007 and probably long resolved. Please keep an eye on the dates.

Your advice is not correct.