Can I charge rent for the time between my tenants move-out date and the time they actually removed all their belongings?
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Can I charge rent for the time between my tenants move-out date and the time they actually removed all their belongings?
It took my tenants 39 days after their move-out date to remove all of their belongings from the property and return all keys. They repeatedly said they would come get it but didn’t show up when they said. Do I have a legal right to charge them for a portion of this time, even if I didn’t specifically tell them ahead of time that I would charge them if they didn’t have it out by a certain date? They also promised to replace doors that they broke but didn’t do that either.
Asked on June 27, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Colorado
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Conceivably you can charge your former tenants rent for the items that they left behind in the unit they occupied even though they were not actually using the premises for occupation. The issue is what is the fair rental value of the premises to store the items that were not taken by them.
As to the damaged door issue, I would debit the costs of repair for such from their security deposit and submit an invoice and receipts to them within 21 days or so after move out.
As to charging rent for the storage of the items left behind, I would personally write such off from a business perspective in that such could cause more problens than it is worth to you in the long run.
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