What should I do if a tenant left a motorcycle?
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What should I do if a tenant left a motorcycle?
I run a small rental company in a military town. I rented to a young marine and his girlfriend. While he was deployed she quit paying the rent, so we evicted. When she moved out she left all of his items in the apartment included a nearly brand new motorcycle. Having never heard from the marine who lived there I checked to see if there was any money owing on the bike; there was none. I left the bike in our storage building, and it has been around 2 years since we acquired the motorcycle. By filing an unclaimed motor vehicle form what may I run into since it should be filed 10 days after?
Asked on July 1, 2011 under Real Estate Law, North Carolina
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Here is the issue. Before I get into the motorcycle itself, the Soldiers and Sailors Act may actually preclude you from evicting this tenant. Please check to ensure you did a legal eviction per the Act, because if you didn't, you may held liable to the tenants for an illegal eviction. Now, assuming the eviction was legal and allowed by the Soldiers and Sailors Act, you need to check with your state treasurer on escheatment guidelines and a) if you have to escheat such personal property to the state after doing certain notice requirements, like locating a command chief for the soldier and communicating through that person or unit and b) if the bike can now be considered abandoned property that you can sell the property. The 10 days after may be a preliminary matter but generally speaking, you would need to contact the North Carolina License and Theft Bureau of the DMV to get what you need because otherwise there really isn't clean title on the vehicle and you may not be able to re-register it to sell.
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