Tenant not responding and appears to have moved out

[Brian Pfaehler]

I am located in Indiana and I have been a real estate investor for over 15 years. I've never had a situation where a tenant just moved out after the lease was over, especially since I was talking to them just two weeks ago. I can't get a response from email, phone call, voicemail or text message and I drove by the property today and it appears to be mostly vacated. What are my options at this point? May rent is not paid, the lease was expired at the end of March, and I'm ready to change the locks and get it ready for the next tenant. Do I have an obligation to do anything at this point? Thanks for the help...

[Dave Toelkes]

The lease has expired, the tenant's appear to have vacated the property.  You need to do a formal checkout, change the locks, and mail the tenants a final accounting for the disposition of their security deposit (I suspect most if forfeited as unpaid rent).  Mail to the last known address (even if that is your property) and hopefully the tenants have asked the post office to forward their mail. Ask the postal system for address service.

If your tenants left any personal property behind, secure their property in storage for awhile just in case they come back and want to reclaim their property.  

Have a conversation with your attorney regarding your obligations under your state's landlord/tenant law.