Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Disposing of Property left by evicted tenant

Actually you're required to safeguard the property for a minimum of 15 days after the eviction.

There is a statutory procedure you need to follow (Cal. Code of Civil Procedure sec 1174) If you don't have access to the codes, e-mail me and I'll send the text of the statute.

In essence, the owner of the personal property has to have notice that the property may be sold if not reclaimed from you within 15 days after the date of the eviction. If, within that 15 days, the tenant reclaims the property and pays you the reasonable costs of storage, he or she can have the property. The owner of the personal property gets Notice either through the Sheriff's Writ of Possession at the time of eviction, or if not named in the Writ, by a Notice of Right to Reclaim that you must serve on that owner.

After the 15 days have passed, you can sell or dispose of the property if its resale value is less than $300.00. If more than $300.00, you must sell it at a public sale by competitive bidding. Again, you need to follow a specific statutory procedure for the sale (Cal. Civil Code Sec 1988

As you can see, there are a lot of procedural hurdles that you have to go through to safely sell abandoned property without incurring potential liability to the prior tenant. I'd contact an attorney in your area who specializes in landlord-tenant law, and request their help in fulfilling all the statutory requirements.

Best of luck, and feel free to contact me if you need further assistance.

The foregoing information is provided as an

accommodation only, and does not constitute legal

advice or a legal opinion based on a comprehensive

review of all relevant facts, nor can provision of

such information be construed as creating an

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