Landlord Law


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Tenant's Gone, But Her Property Lingers On

Lamenting property tenant left behind

A tenant vacated my property without paying rent for the last month, took the keys to the property with her and left some of her belongings in the garage. I need to rent the property. What do I do with the belongings she left behind?

Much as your heart must cry out to hurl the stuff as far as the wind will carry it, don't throw that stuff out -- at least not yet.

You live in Oklahoma, a state that proclaims everything is OK. But to stay on the right side of the law there, you have to determine whether the abandoned property is worth anything -- and, if it is, you must let the tenant know that you have it and intend to sell it unless she claims it.

The whole procedure is more than a little complicated. You can read about it in your state code: OK. Statutes title 41 Section 130. As luck would have it, your state statutes are available online. Go to http://oklegal.onenet.net/statutes.basic.html and follow the directions for reading that statute.

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