3 yrs ago we rented our house to person with a month to month lease He then stated he really liked the property, 10 acres, The house a 4 br colonial with a two car attached garage, and a 40 x 60 pole barn with a paved floor. He was excited about the barn because he has a construction company and the money he saved by not having to use a storage facility would be cost saving and convenient We approached him about purchasing the home.which he stated that was his intention . This month no rent no reply's to phone calls or emails. We took a drive 4 hours from where we live and found he abandoned the property. We got in the house through a upper level window and found all the house was empty and the power had been turned off. not to mention the filth left behind the neglect to the property. (the grass hadn't been cut for the last year). We don't know what is in the pole barn he's got a padlock on the doors We do know there is a boat that was parked behind the barn. What are we allowed under Mi. law with property left behind. We have no keys to the house or pole barn.
Answers & Comments
Technically, when you broke into the house, you were trespassing.
In MI, you must give "reasonable notice" of intent to enter. You need to go back to the property and post a notice on the front door.
"This is to notify the tenant of 123 Main Street of the landlord's intent to enter the property, the barn, and any other buildings on the property, July 3rd between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Any locks for which the landlord does not have the key to will be broken and the expense to replace them will be billed to the tenant."
Then, you enter on that date during those times.
It sounds like you will need to bring a locksmith with to cut the lock on the barn and to open and rekey the doors. All this can be charged to the tenant.
Document everything via camera and video. Ask the locksmith if he can be a neutral third party to sign off on how you found the property.
MI doesn't have specific landlord/tenant abandoned property laws. http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Michigan/p4/aban... offers some advice.
You need to mail a notice to pay or quit to the address you have for the tenant (your property's address) IMMEDIATELY. Like get off the computer, find a form, and mail it. MI requires that you give the tenant 7 days to pay or vacate. After 7 days, you can start eviction proceedings. http://courts.mi.gov/Self-help/center/casetype/Pag... Hopefully the tenant left a forwarding address with the USPS. Personally, I might mail two copies - one that says "please forward" and one that says "do not forward, address service requested".
Each and every time you enter the premises, until the tenant has been legally evicted, you must post notice of your intent to enter. If you want to start repairing and prepping the property, that's fine, but you most post this notice.
If you guys are unable to make regular visits to the property, you need to hire a property management company who will do it for you. Lack of attention is a huge problem that inexperienced landlords have - you are lucky your tenant moved out. I know folks who tried to be DIY landlords and they ended up with a squatter who wouldn't move out. The state they were in was very tenant friendly and the 'landlords' aren't very bright, so it took them forever to get the guy out. In the process, they lost thousands of dollars in rent and he left the house a trash heap.
There are abandoned property laws in every state. Even though you suspected the property to be abandoned you broke the law by entering without notice. You were legally required to post a notice to enter on the door and wait the legally required notice time for your state BEFORE ever stepping foot in the property. It is to late now but you need to make sure to follow the law in the future before you get sued.
Required notice to enter is a pretty basic law that EVERY landlord should know! If you are going to rent out any property you really need to find & learn the laws for your state. Fumbling though on your own can get you sued.
Post a notice to enter property. 24 hours is sufficient in most states. Cut the locks and move the property to the curb if it has been abandoned for more than 30 days. If it's not claimed from public property keep what you will.
You will need to legally evict your tenant, even though he has abandoned the premises. Once that is complete, you can use whatever means is at your disposal to enter the buildings. If you find property remaining that is of value, you can remove it, but you must store it according to law. If the tenant fails to respond according to law, you can then sell such property at auction. Since you are distant from the premises, I suggest getting legal assistance to get this done.
You need to Google Michigan's landlord/tenant law and see what it says about abandonment. You will probably have to treat it like eviction.