How Long Do I Have To Keep My Former Tenants Crap?

I confess. Just like a lot of other Minneapolis and St Paul duplex owners, I have a garage (or for some, basement) full of stuff left behind by previous tenants.

Some of it’s there because, in all honesty, I’ve just been too lazy to find a whole bunch of people to help me get a couch to the dump. Some of it, at least initially, was due to mistaken beliefs about Minnesota’s state laws for storing tenants’ abandoned belongings.

See, personal property left behind by the tenant must be stored by the housing provider for 28 days; even if the abandoned things look like junk. That landlord can charge the tenant for all moving and storage costs; expenses the tenant must pay before the items are released. However, in my experience, many tenants leave things behind because they simply don’t want them or know how to dispose of them.

If the tenant was evicted, however, things get a bit more complicated. First, the housing provider has to take an inventory of the property and have that list signed and dated by the Sheriff. The list must include all the items, and a description of them as well as their condition. The landlord must also sign and date the list, as well as provide the name and contact information of the person authorized to release the stuff to the tenant, as well as the law officer’s name and badge number.

Then, while the landlord removes and stores the belongings for 28 days, the sheriff hangs on to the inventory list. The landlord is required to inform the tenant by first class mail of the approximate day and time the sheriff will be removing them and their belongings from the premises. Housing providers also have to try to reach the tenant by phone.

After all that, if the tenant notifies the housing provider in writing they want their belongings back prior to the end of the 28 days, the housing provider must return them regardless of whether the tenant has caught up on rent. However, if the landlord has removed the items from the premises, and is paying to store it elsewhere, they may retain the items until the former tenant reimburses them in full for moving and storage fees.

Of course, if someone can’t pay rent, they may also be unable to pay to retrieve their things.

Which leaves housing providers like me with basements and garages full of unwanted things.

The moral of the story, I suppose, is after 30 days to just call a junk removal service or just finally resign myself to storing it forever.