Appliance Dispute with Tenant

[Chris Long]

So I purchased a property in April 2019 and it had a tenant in place. The tenant signed a new lease until April of 2020. Toward the end of June the tenant stated that he wanted to move out. I gave him some options to get out before the end of his contract. 

The tenant states that the refrigerator, microwave and a window AC unit were not working before I purchased the house and that he purchased new ones for the house. The options that I gave him previously were on the condition that the appliances were left in the house. 

Today my PM informed me that the tenant will be moving out tomorrow and that he is going to take the appliances with him. 

I do have a new tenant in place and she will probably be moving in around the 10th of August. 

Do I have any recourse with the appliances or am I out of luck?

Thanks for the help.

[Jon Schoeller]

If the tenant can prove he/she purchased the appliances they are theirs to keep. If they can't then you probably need proof from whomever you purchased the property from that the appliances were already in place and working before the tenant originally moved in. This sounds like one of those occasions where it might be more trouble than it's worth. If you truly think they are yours to keep then simply keep their security deposit when they move out and put that towards the purchase of new appliances. Hope that helps.