It’s the tenant’s responsibility to remove their property at the end of the tenancy. If they don’t do this, their belongings may end up being disposed of or sold.
If the tenant leaves goods behind after the end of the tenancy, there are rules the landlord must follow in dealing with them (s 62 RTA).
- The landlord can dispose of perishable items (eg, food) immediately.
- The landlord must make reasonable efforts to contact the tenant and to agree with the tenant on a reasonable amount of time for them to retrieve their belongings.
- If the landlord doesn’t manage to contact the tenant, or the tenant doesn’t pick up their property as agreed, then the landlord can either:
- apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for an order determining what to do with the belongings (ie, order the goods to be disposed of, returned to the tenant, or sold by the landlord), or
- store, sell or dispose of the tenant’s belongings in accordance with the required process. See Tenancy Services information about abandoned goods for more information.
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