Tenant Belongings Left Back

[Eric Vasilopoulos]

Hi all, I recently purchased a 4-plex in Queens, New York area. An inherited tenant from one apartment just moved out and took all of her belongings from the apartment, I used cash for keys. She took 3 months to move and was not paying any rent. However there are multiple belongings left behind in the basement which is not part of her apartment. I assume since this is a public space, the rules of giving a notice to pick up those belongings does not apply? 

In addition, I did have her sign a surrender of premises agreement when she moved stating that she has already moved out including all of her belongings from the apartment and has no further interest or seeks on occupying the apartment. Not sure if this helps in any way with the basement.

[Mohammed Rahman]

Hey @Eric Vasilopoulos - I've had this happen to another client of mine... in his case his tenant accepted cash for keys and moved out quickly. If they didn't take anything with them, he let it sit for a few weeks and then threw it out. Seems to be similar in your case, I can't fathom anyone holding you liable for throwing away their things if they took your cash in order to move out. If I was in your shoes, I'd make sure that the items in the basement were actually that specific tenant's and not the belonging of other tenants in the building. 

You may want to look into specifying in your new leases with future tenants in regards to basement common storage area use.