My father rented a property to a party. He asked the previous renter to move out (obviously) to rent to the new party but apparently told the old renter that he could keep some of his possessions in a locked trunk in the rented house. I say apparently because my father has since passed and we have no way to confirm this alleged conversation. The new tenants stopped paying rent after a few months but eventually we were able to get them to leave. Now the old tenant - the one who had stored some of his belongings in the house - is claiming that the other tenants broke into his trunk and stole all his belongings. He is claiming that we as the landlords are responsible for compensating him for his losses. Could we be liable?
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1. If there's no written registered agreement executed by your late father with the first tenant, stating that the first tenant could keep his belongings, including the locked trunk in the second tenant's rented house, then there could be no responsibility fixed on the landlord.
2. At most the first tenant can lodge a complaint against the second tenant stating that the trunk was broken by the second tenant and he stole all his belongings.
It is not sure whether any valuables were there in the trunk or not.
Since the breakage of the trunk occurred during the new tenancy then your responsibility or involvement is not much.
If the old tenant can be compensated by money then you can consider to do so to avoid legal complications.
It is responsibility of tenant to remove his belongings when he vacates the residence
2) you are not liable to pay any compensation to ex tenant
Once a tenant has vacated the premises it becomes his responsibility to take away all his items, the landlord cannot be held responsible for the loss subsequently.
you can ask him to proceed as per law which can be challenged properly
No liability and refuse any such belongings in the house
Thank you for the answers, advocates? Even though we don't have any liability, we wanted to help the old tenant if we could. But how do we determine what was actually in the trunk and whether the amount states has any validity?
Ask the last tenant whether he has broken the lock and removed any articles from said trunk
2) forward the complaint received from ex tenant to last tenant for his comments
If you want to help the tenant then you will be in a problem in the name of helping him.
Therefore you can remain silent for now, let him take any legal action and you can challenge the maintainability in the trial proceedings if at all the complaint is converted into a case.
Your anxiety in this regard may ruin your your own interests.
- Since, the landlord was not in physical possession of the tenanted portion , then he cannot be accused for the said theft.
- Hence , you are not liable to pay the compensation , specially when there is not written contract for the safety of the said trunk.
- Further, the said tenant was under obligation to remove his belongings at the time of vacate the premises.
Since you want to help the old tenant, even though you don't have any liability, ask the old tenant to furnish the list of items he had kept in the trunk and it's value. Based on that, you can compensate the old client.
Dear Client,
In this situation, your liability as landlords for the loss of the old tenant's belongings largely depends on several factors, including the terms of the rental agreement, the specific promises made by your father, and the actions of the new tenants. Generally, landlords are not liable for the personal property of tenants unless there is a specific agreement or contract that provides for such a responsibility. In this case, if the new tenants were responsible for breaking into the trunk, they would be the primary parties liable for any theft. However, if your father made a verbal promise to the old tenant regarding the storage of his belongings, and if this promise was understood to be part of the rental arrangement, it could create a basis for a claim. To determine the validity of the old tenant's claim, you would need to verify what was in the trunk and assess the value of the items reported as stolen. To address the claim, consider collecting evidence of their value, investigating the genuineness of their claim and then offer resolution (if any).
