Post tenancy property, correct removal and disposal for landlords and property managers

Landlords and property managers who have a lot on their plate with the current climate can sometimes (increasingly so nowadays) find themselves in a time consuming and often sticky situation with evicted or absconded tenants abandoned property.

The temptation is to just assume the tenant has considered the property rubbish and throw the items into the bin. This can be a bad mistake and can lead to situations where landlords or property managers can find themselves in the tenancy tribunal.

A case and point:

One of our clients intended to sell a multi unit property and wanted to do extensive clean up and repair before putting it on the market. The landlords property manger gave the 90 day notice required. The tenants moved out and a number of them left some items behind on the property. The tenants were notified about the items and the items were stored in a shed for on the property for 35 days. Verbally the tenants had said they did not want the property but the manager advised the landlord to keep the goods for the prescribed period.

After the 35 days had expired the landlord disposed of the property by throwing it all in the bin.

Shortly there after the property management company was summoned to the tribunal over a pot plant that one of the tenants claimed was of high sentimental value and had an intrinsic monetary value of $150.

Although the landlord and management had done everything right and the tenant had not indicated that she wanted the pot plant or made an effort to collect the pot plant, the tribunal ruled in favor of the tenant (who was most likely just making trouble), because the landlord and management company did not have a disposal order for what the tenant was claiming to be a valuable item.

How can Auckland Moving Guys help?

Well the epiphany came for us when reading the rules around handling and disposing of tenants abandoned property here.

Considering that transportation and storage are two main factors involved in the landlord/property managers responsibilities around abandoned property, we envisioned that our services would fit like a glove.

The tenancy services website states:

“The landlord must take reasonable steps to assess how much the goods are worth.

If the goods are worth:

• less than the cost of storing, transporting and selling them, the landlord can immediately dispose of them as they see fit (except for personal documents).
• more than the cost of storing, transporting and selling them, the landlord must secure the goods for at least 35 days from the day they took possession of them. After 35 days, they can either:
  • continue to store them to await any claims by the tenant
  • sell the goods at a reasonable market price.

If the landlord sells the goods, they can deduct the cost of storing and selling them from the total amount they make. They can also apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to reclaim from this money anything else the tenant owes them (eg, overdue rent, damage repair, or cleaning costs).”

We provide a one stop shop for abandoned property removal and disposal.

Auckland Moving Guys can attend the property in conjunction with our appraiser (who may also be able to move any valuable abandoned property at the conclusion of the process), we will itemize the property and give a detailed quotation on the expected value of the property, the cost of moving the items and the cost of any storage if applicable.

If the property has no intrinsic value and is essentially rubbish there are three options available:

• We can provide a quotation to quantify the monetary cost of disposing of the rubbish for the landlords use.
• We can apply to the tribunal on behalf of the landlord (we highly recommend doing this if there could be an argument over the property value) for a disposal order and dispose of the rubbish.
• We can store any possibly disputable items for 35 days and then dispose of.

If the property is found to have intrinsic value there are two options available:

• We can provide a detailed itemized break down of the items and their expected values along with the cost to move the items off site and a weekly break down of cost to store.
• We can move the items into storage and store them until a disposal order is gained or the mandatory 35 day period has expired.

Having the back up of of a detailed and itemized quotation and following the prescribed time frames will add another layer of protection to landlords and property managers when dealing with absconded, evicted or previous tenants who could possible come back to make claims about items they have left on the property.

It is also highly important to make all reasonable efforts to contact the previous tenants about any items they have left on the property before disposing of them, even if it does appear to be rubbish at first glance.