State Specific Question About: KENTUCKY (KY)

Hello, my first post here. Me and my mom have a rental property in the Lexington area of Kentucky. I have spent the last 2-3 hours looking for a definitive answer on what I have to do when a person leaves behind furniture. We have nothing in the lease about abandoned property. We will after we re-rent. We have the check in list signed by him and I have the check out list as well so everything was done by the book.

The house was left a mess so I'm assuming the tenant believes his security is history(which it is). Why I say this is because he does not answer his phone or texts and i cannot get in touch with him, nor know where he is even after contacting any of his references. I cannot get in touch with him to come to any kind of agreement for removal of furniture. Is there a website I am missing that goes over abandoned property in Kentucky at a rental unit? Any other Kentucky landlord websites about law you'd like to share would be great as well. Thank you.

Kelley v. Nationwide Auto Restoration, LLC, 246 S.W.3d 470 (2007)

The fundamental principles regarding ownership of abandoned property are succinctly set forth in 1 Am. Jur. 2nd abandoned, Lost, and Unclaimed Property § 24 (2007): Property which is abandoned becomes subject to appropriation by the first taker or finder who reduces it to possession. Such person thereupon acquires absolute ownership in the property abandoned, as against both the former owner and any person upon whose land it happens to have been left.

In other words, personal property, upon being abandoned, ceases to be the property of any person, unless and until it is reduced to possession with the intent to acquire title to, or ownership of, it. Such property may, accordingly, be appropriated by anyone, if it has not been reclaimed by the former owner, and ownership of it vests by operation of law, in the person first lawfully appropriating it and reducing it to possession with the intention to become its owner, provided such taking is fair. 1 C.J.S. Abandonment § 12 (1993). Thus, ownership of abandoned property vests in the possessor by operation of law and a court need not resort to its injunctive or equitable powers in order to recognize that ownership. Although Kelley strongly contests this point, he offers no legal basis for his contrary position beyond the definitions of "equitable remedy" and "injunction" contained in Black's Law Dictionary. Those general definitions are simply insufficient to contravene established law regarding abandoned property.

The plaintiff in that case played it safe by seeking a court ruling that they were the owner of the abandoned property. But this appears to set up a context where you could send a notice to the effect of, "Anything left here after [DATE] will be deemed abandoned" and, as long as you provide a reasonable time, bring a District Court action to claim ownership over anything left behind. The alternative, treating the property as your own and letting him sue you if he wants it back, is riskier as the court may agree with part or all of his claim.

There was no eviction. The lease had ended and he is gone. I changed the locks first day(Dec 1). I cannot get in touch with him and now his phone is disconnected. His references also lead to nowhere.

Hopefully someone from KY will come along shortly with a state specific answer:)

"What stuff?"

Eddie does see any stuff. He has good eye sight. What stuff?

No idea about KY laws and how they might be different than mine.

That being said get with a lawyer or a LL group in your area to find out.

For me if they left on their own but left no keys I would send the letter to the last place I know they lived stating the SD monies are going to XX. I would also include in that a fee for getting rid of said abandoned materials. Keep the junk in a spot for a bit in case he says he wants to reclaim it.

If it's an abandonment issue post on the door what you need to. If it just happens to fall off that isn't your fault. After the picture it's all done.

If you are really worried about it you can file eviction on the guy. That will get it all on the court records. But that will take more time and cost more money when he is gone. I did this with the last two people that bailed on me. That was because they both left a lot of crap and owed me a lot of money.

Now that being said time for a little education for you.

Start reading on here. Absorb what you can. There are people posting from KY which will help. I have learned a lot from this place. So much so that I went to the last convention they had. I didn't make it to the bootcamp this year but have earmarked next year's convention and bootcamp. Maybe the getaway as well, but definitely the first two. I saved or made so much from what I learned here it was a no brainer to go rub elbows with the real people.