Living in Hillsborough County, FL:

One of my roommates has recently been kicked out, and she signed her name off the lease agreement. Since then, she has not come back to pack her stuff or even begin to move it out. Am I legally allowed to take her belongings and put them outside the front door? I'm past the moral dilemma, I just want her junk out of my apartment!!

Hello beard:

You say "kicked out", but I'll bet that doesn't mean "evicted". UNTIL she's legally evicted, she's still a tenant. If she had a lease agreement with YOU, then YOU need to evict her LEGALLY, then you can remove her stuff.

If she had the lease with the LANDLORD, if HE doesn't legally evict her, she'll remain your LEGAL roommate until he does. AS your legal roommate, if you touch her stuff, YOU will be held liable for it.

Now she may not sue you, but if she does, you'll lose.

excon

If she is off the lease, then she is no longer a tenant or your roommate. Once she is off the lease, you can't touch her stuff for 30 days. After that you can toss it. These are the rules in MD, but I'm sure Florida is similar.

We really need some more info here to give a definitive answer. Like:

1) define "kicked out"
2) define "signed off lease" (Note a tenant can't just sign off the lease, it has to be agreed by the landlord as well)
3) Who was her lease with?
4) Has any attempt been made to contact her to get her things? Do you know where she is now living?

Please help us help you by giving a full story.

Everything was done legally and proper. We asked her to move out (she had issues with paying bills on time), and we all met at the office of the apartment complex, the rental agreement was changed to be in my name and my other roommate, my other roommate and I signed it, as well as two employees of the office. The lease is with the apartment management company, and yes, we have made several attempts to contact her to take her stuff. It's been about 2 weeks, and we're trying to move another person in.

Ok, So you asked her to leave and she voluntarily left. You got lucky since she could have held you up for breaking the lease. If she hadn't agreed to leave, the apartment management would have had to go through a formal eviction process.

Anyway, you didn't answer the question about knowing where she now lives. I would make one more attempt to send her a letter certified, return receipt. In the letter give her a date by which she needs to pick up her stuff otherwise they will be turned over to good will. If you don't have a current address, send it to your address and see if she filed a forwarding. If she gave any references when she signed the lease, send a copy to them. If you get a receipt or itf its returned as no forwarding, you have done your due diligience and can get rid of the stuff. Make sure you keep the documentation of those letters.

We do not know where she lives. Before she moved in with us, she was couch-surfing, and we assume she's doing the same now. We've contacted her parents (the references on the application), and neither of them know where she is. I know where she works, I imagine that I can drop it off there.

Drop it off or send it via certified mail. The point is you do not want to let yourself be liable for damages if she finally does come back. Can you send the stuff to her parents? That might be a compromise.