We have a rental property with a one year lease still in effect. What happens if the tenant turns off all of the utilities and the rent is past due, but they have not notified the landlord that they plan to leave? Calls to the tenants cell phone and messages left have gone unanswered and unreturned. Am I allowed to enter the premesis without written notice? And if so, what if they have left property on the premises? Any information would be much appreciated.

Hello akayeball:

You need to start eviction procedures right away. Until the eviction is granted through the courts, the property is legally theirs.

Certainly you have the right to inspect upon reasonable notice, and a message on their cell phone is sufficient. I would hope your lease has wording similar to that. But, that's all you can do until the unit becomes YOURS again.

excon

You do have the right to inspect the property, this should be written into the lease. Shutting off utilities is a reasonable grounds for such an inspection especially in winter, to make sure pipes haven't burst etc.

If you find the premises apparently abandoned, you can file for eviction on those grounds to regain possession. You cannot move out any belongings until you get a court order to do so.

Thanks for the information. We live 2.5 hours away from the property, so it makes it difficult to know exactly what is going on there. We're going to go check it out tomorrow. If we find that the tenant and all of her stuff is gone, do we still need to officially evict her before renting to someone else?

Yes as long as the lease is still in force.