property abandonment?

[LeeAnn Doppel]

Hi,

New here and loving this forum.

Here's what's going on for me.

I rented my Utah condo in January 2014, a one year lease. Never paid on time, always excuses, but he'd finally pay. Sept's rent never came, and again he told me all the excuses and he said he was going to move out that weekend because he couldn't afford it. I told him the sooner I could get it re rented, he could be out of the lease. But he didn't move out or pay. At the advice of 2 different eviction attorneys I gave him a 3 day notice to pay or quit. He took the notice but ignored it. I then posted a 24 hr notice to enter so I could make sure he was still there before I hired an attorney. He texted telling me not to go in the condo alone and he wanted to to be when I came, so I gave him a time I'd be there. Of course he wasn't there. I could see his stuff in the window so I didn't go in. I hired the attorney. He was served Oct 15th and then he texted me saying he'd get out when the courts and sheriff told him he had to be out. The neighbors told me that weekend he had a U-Haul and moved all his furniture and things out. But he also disputed the eviction by writing on a lined notebook paper and took it to the courts to be filed. I posted another 24 hr to enter and the next day I went in since I hadn't heard anything from him. All rooms and garage are completely empty except for food in fridge and cleaning supplies in kitchen, and in living room some bags of stuff, boxes of stuff and a suitcase. My lawyer said that is abandonment and we don't need to go to a hearing. He said I can move all the remaining things into storage and send him a letter telling him he can get them back within 15 days and when he pays for the moving and storage. After that I can do what I want with the things. Meanwhile, what do I do with the perishable food in the fridge/freezer?

My question is, do you think I can consider this abandonment?

Thank you

LeeAnn