Tenant from hell has left...but left the windows open

[Jessica Wood]

Our tenant from hell has moved most of her stuff out, we think, and isn’t sleeping at the property. She left it locked and changed the deadbolt and door handle locks. She also left the windows wide open and it rained 8”. We need to go in and shut them. We will have a locksmith let us in, but our eviction trial isn’t until next week. Do we just leave a key outside the door? Can we have her contact us for a key? Anyone know the legality of the “we need to leave her a key until she’s evicted” scenario?

[Elenis Camargo]

@Jessica Wood Wow that's a tough situation! Do you have an evictions attorney? We went through an eviction a few months ago and I was very worried about entering the property until I knew for a fact that she had abandoned it. We started the eviction then the tenant emailed us saying she moved out and that was enough to allow us to re-enter. Every state has different laws about this. It's VERY important for you to follow these laws so that the tenant doesn't win the trial!!