What to do if my landlord threw out my things without legally serving me with an eviction notice?
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What to do if my landlord threw out my things without legally serving me with an eviction notice?
I was already behind on rent and my sons had not been staying at the residence for 2 months I can prove this. My estranged spouse stayed behind and apparently treated the place like a bachelor pad. The landlord saw its messy state and gave him a week to clean it up and repair it a couple holes in the walls The home was robbed back door kicked in and a number of our items taken and this haulted clean up. It wasn’t completed and I guess the landlord came in and threw out the remainder of our belongings having never legally evicted us, what can I do?
Asked on August 26, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Nevada
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
I would contact your former landlord about the situation you have written about and follow up with the conversation with a letter memorializing it. The problem that I see is that the landlord may have thought that the unit was abandoned by you since it had been broken into by your own admission and the items left behind had nominal value, less than $300.00.
If a landlord believes that a rental has been abandoned, he or she does not need to serve a notice of eviction on a tenant. I suggest that you consult with a landlord tenant attorney about what legal recourse you may have against the former landlord. However, if items were stolen by a third party before the landlord tossed the balance out, you have a hard time proving what the landlord discarded versus what the burglars took.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
It is illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant other than through the courts or to throw out a tenant's belongings except a reasonable time after a lawsful eviction, when the tenant may be considered to have abandoned the belongings. You could sue your landlord for the value of what he threw out and likely for unlawful eviction, too.
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