So, I am living in a student apartment with a lease that ends this Saturday. My roommates left bunch of frying pans, silverware, pots, and couple USBs and a playstation. I have tried to reach them out a couple of times through facebook and phone calls, but nope they haven’t still read messages for last two months!
I asked my apartment manager and she told me that I either have to hold them - which I can, since I m not moving super far away - or leave them behind but be charged 25$ per trash bag(even though they are not mine at all) Obviously I don’t wanna get charged, and this charges is not just on me, but also three other roommates. I m going to seek some help from our school’s legal advice program, but has anyone had this kind of problem? How did you solve it? I am afraid that if I take hold of them without getting permission from my roommates, they might take me to court for “taking their stuff without consent” and I don’t want any kind of troubles for something that’s not my fault.
How much stuff. A small box or a truck load? Can you email or text?
If it’s a small amount, I would box it up and say come get it by x day, otherwise the management is going to throw it in the trash. Do it by email or text and keep a written record.
Then you have two choices. Pay the $25 and let them be the bad guys or pitch the crap yourself (or keep for a few weeks). My guess is there is no value so you don’t have a lot to worry about if you take it or pitch it.
Send your roomates one last message via phone and facebook, whatever. Tell them you are advertising in Craiglist, the Pennysaver, whatever it might be, and if they have not picked up their things by then, it will all be given away. Keep copies of any messages. Or simply take all the stuff out and give it back to them when they ask for it. The landlord has told you the deal. They have abandoned their things. Take screenshots of any messages you have sent them, just in case. I don’t think this is an issue, tbh.
If you are moving close by, maybe take anything of real value that isn’t too bulky with you to be nice. Otherwise, Craigslist “free stuff”. If someone left their possessions behind when they moved out of an apt for good they have given up ownership of it. NYP and I don’t think you need to worry about lawsuits over lost silverware.
Did the landlord already return this former roommate’s security deposit? If so, the stuff is abandoned and you can toss. If not, have him take the $25 out of that security deposit.
Did the landlord already return this former roommate’s security deposit? If so, the stuff is abandoned and you can toss. If not, have him take the $25 out of that security deposit.
If it’s been 2 months, and you have made reasonable attempts to contact the roommates, take the stuff with you. The landlord has no say what you do with it once you leave. The landlord wants you to think you are required to hold it for them, so you won’t bother taking it. Then when you leave it, he gets to charge you each $25 (if it’s per bag, I would hope that’s $25 split among all of you, not $25 per person per bag), AND he can then sell the items. Pretty good deal for him, no?
Unlike your landlord, you probably don’t have a signed contract with these roommates. If he has a legal right to dispose of their property if they leave it behind, then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t have such a right. They abandoned the property in what is now your apartment, not theirs (unless they have continued to pay their share of the rent). If another friend who didn’t live with you left their belongings, what would you do?
I don’t know why your apartment manager is telling you you have to hold them, but you don’t. Unless you’re living in a state with some truly weird laws, you’re not under any obligation to hold your roommates’ stuff that they left behind (and even if you were, it’s been more than 60 days, which would probably be longer than any obligatory period of holding).
If you don’t want the stuff, I’d send one more message to your roommates (phone call and email) outlining exactly what you have and letting them know that if they do not respond to your messages within 7 days, you are disposing of the belongings as you see fit. You want to reach out via email 1) because for some people that’s going to be a more reliable form of contact than FB messenger and 2) so you have a copy that you can print out and point to should you run into any trouble. I’d also save the records of your unanswered Facebook messages - take some screenshots.
If you wanted to be super safe and take them and hold the items…why would your roommates “take you to court for taking their stuff without consent”? Do you have a bad or tenuous relationship with your roommates? Taking you to court would be costly and time-consuming, almost certainly more than the value of the items. It’s far more likely that they would simply ask you to return their stuff.
@paul2752 wrote <<<i asked="" my="" apartment="" manager="" and="" she="" told="" me="" that="" i="" either="" have="" to="" hold="" them="" -="" which="" can,="" since="" m="" not="" moving="" super="" far="" away="">>>
To avoid the fees for stuff that isn’t yours take it with you, put in your garage or storage and wait a bit. If they don’t claim the stuff pitch it or give it away. My guess is if you leave it you three will all be charged $25.00 each<i asked="" my="" apartment="" manager="" and="" she="" told="" me="" that="" i="" either="" have="" to="" hold="" them="" -="" which="" can,="" since="" m="" not="" moving="" super="" far="" away="">
Did your roommates leave for the summer expecting to occupy this apartment in the fall? Did someone (you?) then give notice that you were instead vacating the apartment? If something like this is the case, then there could be some responsibility for you to take proper care of their stuff.
Otherwise, I’d go with the abandoned argument and just get rid of the stuff.
Thanks for all the responses! I finally got emails from my roommates and they did say they would come back and pick up their stuffs. But who knows? They are lazy as heck AFAIK. To clarify and answer yall’s question.
- We all have individual leases for each bedroom in 4 bed unit. One of them has moved out officially with nothing left behind, while three of us are still active residents. One of them is a frat kid who hasn't been here for 5 months, while the other has gone home for summer. They still have their stuff in their rooms. From what I see, they both plan to move out. I don't know anything aobut their security deposits because we aren't friends, and frankly, I hate them all for making me clean the house all alone.
- @juillet yes, that part is weird. IDK why the managment tries to avoid 14day storage rule(outlined by Alabama tenant laws) , but student apartment always like to take advantage of us. Anyway, I talked to the manager and she said she will keep certain valuable things while discard others. There are couple frying pans, baking sheets, cups, silverware, water bottle, pots, and a PLAYSTATION WITH HUD BOX. Obviously they do have some values. I talked to the law clinic in my school, and the law clinic said that I have three options: hold them myself for now, let the management take it, or keep it behind and get fined. The clinic said had the same opinion as yours: it would be silly for my roommates to sue me for trivial items because it's costly and time consuming.
Fortunately, the manager said that I can just email her and she will exempt me from charges. And like I said, the roommates finally responded.
Again, thanks for the responses. If anything else happens, I will update!