[gam17]

I am in NJ
I rented one family house to a person designated as "tenant" and he signed the contract without his wife and nothing mentioned in the contract about his wife or his children.
Tenant disappeared for the last five months(not sure if he is overseas or in jail or he separated from his wife) his son paid the rent for 3 months and did not pay January and they got evicted by court 2/8:
1: can his wife claim the furniture and his belongings
2:if I give his wife whatever left in the house can he sue me for that if he shows up
3:I will use the deposit for January rent, does he owe me all February rent or only till 2/8
4:The tenant caused damages to the property, if his wife claim the furniture would she be liable for the damages(tenant has nothing in his name, everything he owns is under his wife name)
This eviction was after long battle in court(if anybody interested in my experience I will be happy to share)
Thanks for any help

[LisaB4657]

You send a letter to the tenant at his last known address, by certified mail (with a copy sent by regular mail), informing him that he has 30 days to retrieve his belongings and if he does not do so within those 30 days then you will dispose of them. On the 31st day you can set them outside with the trash and whoever wants to claim them can claim them.

If his wife claims them during that time then you should have her sign a piece of paper saying that she is claiming them on his behalf and that she takes full responsibility for them. However that will not make her responsible for the damage to the property. Since he is the only one who signed the lease he is the only one responsible for the damage.

[gam17]

Thanks lisa, very helpful as usual.
Does the tenant owe me rent till eviction date or to the end of the month(it is month to month lease)
Also can I hold the furniture till he pay the damage to the house

[LisaB4657]

The tenant owes rent until the eviction date. And no, you cannot hold the furniture until he pays for the damage to the house.

[gam17]

Thank you it sounds a reasonable answers, I decided to give them the option between mover and storage which will cost them a lot ,or they pay part of the damage (they asked for 3 weeks to pick up the furniture)
I gave them their cloths and computers after I had the police their today.
I will send them the notice to take their furniture tomorrow.
Thanks a lot.
I would appreciate any comments