Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Iowa

Re: Tenants Abandoned Property

It's all state law. You need to check with a lawyer in

your own state.

I personally doubt you have to make any attempts to

contact him, but you'd better have damned good evidence that

he vacated before you enter and remove his possessions; your

state's laws might require X months of waiting time, for example.

Then, from storage to infinity, ... you might have to go through

a procedure of having a sheriff auction off the items for you or for

the storage company (assuming the goods had not been claimed in, say

3 months -- pay them as little as you can, yourself, and commit as

little as you can!) and the proceeds might be kept by the storage company

for fees or you for your claim of rent, ... whatever the procedure, it's

all straightforward, but I don't think you get to have the fun of destroying

the goods yourself. Maybe a sheriff can hire an appraisor to list them and

say their sum total value is $0 ...

To be honest, I'd like to hear what you learn when you find out the

answer for your state.

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.