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I have purchased and sold real estate for several years. Thankfully, most of the tenants that I had in my properties have been very good. However, every once in awhile everyone gets “THE tenant” a tenant that has either abandoned your property or you have to kick them out. I have had both happen to me. Here are some ideas of what you need to do if you believe that a tenant has abandoned your property.

1. The very first thing you have to do is look at the law. Every state has different laws in terms of what is considered abandonment, and what to do if the tenant has left abandoned the property. If you are not very comfortable with the understanding of the law, then….

2. Get an attorney. Do not mess with this, because a mistake in this business can cost you a lot of money. This is critical! If you understand the law, moved to step three.

3. Once as you understand the law, you have to figure out whether the tenant has really abandoned your property or not. This is very important, because if you guess wrong, things will get a really ugly, really fast. Look for signs of abandonment which can include one or more of the following: A. the utilities have been turned off. B. Somebody saw them move. C. They have stopped paying rent (this is usually a pretty good indicator!)

4. Understand the tenant landlord relationship. It is important not to enter the premises unless you know what you’re doing. Even though you may be the landlord, when you rent the property, you give a tenant certain rights. If you just decide to go in, you could be considered to be trespassing by law. I cannot stress the importance of checking what the law says first.

5. Once you have established that the tent has LEGALLY abandoned the property, the first thing I would do is change the locks and bring a camera with you. Go into the property, and take pictures of everything you see, and I mean everything. It is very easy for an angry tenant to claim that his property has been stolen and sue you for a whole lot of money. If the tenant left and took all the property with him, count your blessings. More often not, tenants who leave in a hurry tend to leave some other stuff behind.

6. Do not throw the tenants property away. Check the law in your specific area as to what your obligations are with the tenant’s property. Go rent a storage unit somewhere nearby, and leave all the property there. Many states have laws that force you to advertise where the tenant’s property is located and how to get access to it. Many states have laws that state that the property must be available to the tenant for up to 30 days after you take over the property. You must make a reasonable effort to make it known in a place that is easy to access.

7. Study the law some more. Most states have provisions that entitle you as the landlord to obtain as liquidated damages the cost of storing that tenant’s property. If you understand and use the law, you will probably be able to save some money.

8. Another important step is to check the city and county for violations. Many times the tenants will leave the house a disaster which can incur the wrath of the city in terms of code violations.

9. Call and check all the utilities because chances are the tenant probably stop paying those well. Make sure that the city does not have grounds to place a judgment on your property based on the actions of the tenant.

10. Change the locks, clean the property, re-carpet and re-paint (as I have had to do in almost all cases where this has happened to me. The last step is something that we should’ve done long ago.

11. Be more careful when you rent to. You cannot underestimate the value of background and credit checks. Get referrals from the tenant and call them! An extra 20 bucks in a background check will save you thousands in damage and frustration.