Can I start repairs in the middle of an eviction?

[Sarah A Banzhof]

Hello! New to this forum but happy to learn from all of you more “seasoned” landlords.

We are in the middle of evicting our tenants in Ohio, have jumped through all of the hoops, and are awaiting trial.  The trial is in 5 days, then it will take a week etc for the bailiff to give us the property back officially. 

My question is, can and should we go into the home to start prepping it for re-rental?  The tenant texted me a couple days ago and stated “we have not lived in the house for two weeks, but I still have a table in the garage and a lamp and some **** there.”

Should I return to the home now to get the ball rolling and get this place re-rented by doing some repair work or just wait until everything is removed/ the whole process is done with?  She’s been saying she will get the items for over two weeks now but basically is in no rush now because “this is on my record now so I’ll just take my time.”

I can see her point but we have been very kind not evicting her earlier.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

Thank you.