North Dakota Abandoned Tenant Property Notice

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   North Dakota's abandoned tenant property notice is a letter to a former lessee about goods left in a leased dwelling, and its job is to fix two facts the statute turns on: the value of the goods and the date the clock started. N.D.C.C. 47-16-30.1 allows a lessor to retain and dispose of property with a total estimated value of not more than $2,500, without legal process, once 28 or more days have passed. The section does not require the letter or set its contents.

2. 2

   The trigger is that the lessee has vacated the premises. The 28 days run from either of two points: the day the lessor received actual notice that the lessee vacated, or the day it reasonably appears to the lessor that the lessee vacated. The statute lists the two side by side and does not say which controls when they fall on different dates, so a lessor that wants a clean record counts from the later one. A separate provision, N.D.C.C. 47-16-07.3(1), lets a landlord enter the unit if it reasonably believes the tenant has abandoned the premises.

3. 3

   The $2,500 figure is a total estimated value, measured across everything left on the premises, not item by item. It is the condition on which retention and disposal without legal process depend. The section does not say what a lessor may do with property whose total estimated value is more than $2,500, and this page does not fill that gap; a lessor facing larger value should treat the statute as silent and consider attorney review, which is available as an option.

4. 4

   On proceeds, the statute is short and lessor-favorable: the lessor is entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the property. It sets no surplus account for the lessee and no deadline for a lessee to claim money. If storage and moving expenses incurred in disposing of the property are greater than the sale proceeds, the lessor may recover the excess from the lessee's security deposit.

5. 5

   Storage and moving costs are the lessee's in two ways. Before a sale, expenses beyond the proceeds come out of the security deposit as described above. After a judgment of eviction has been obtained and the special execution has been served, a lessor that removes the abandoned property from the dwelling unit holds a lien for the reasonable amount of storage and moving expenses and may retain possession until those charges have been paid.

6. 6

   That lien has a limit. The final sentence of N.D.C.C. 47-16-30.1 says the lien does not have priority over a prior perfected security interest in the property, so a lender or seller holding a perfected security interest in, for example, financed furniture or an appliance ranks ahead of the lessor's storage and moving charges.

7. 7

   Several things a reader might expect are not in the section: no list of items such as papers, photographs or clothing treated differently, no required notice to the lessee, no prescribed form, no public sale or advertisement procedure, and no penalty for a lessor who departs from it. Where the statute is silent, this page says so rather than supplying a rule.

North Dakota Requirements for Abandoned Tenant Property Notice

• The Date the Lessee Vacated

  N.D.C.C. 47-16-30.1 counts from the day the lessor received actual notice that the lessee vacated the premises, or from the day it reasonably appears the lessee vacated. Record both dates and the facts behind each, such as returned keys or a written message, and count from the later one.

• Total Estimated Value Not More Than $2,500

  The power to retain and dispose of the property without legal process applies only where its total estimated value is not more than $2,500. Make a dated inventory with photographs and an estimated value for each item. The section does not address property worth more than that figure.

• Twenty-Eight or More Days Before Disposal

  Retaining and disposing of the property is permitted only 28 or more days after the start date. Diary the earliest date in writing before doing anything with the goods, and keep the goods where they were found or in storage until then.

• An Optional Letter to the Former Lessee

  The section prescribes no notice, form or contents. A dated letter to the last known address stating the vacating date, the estimated value and the disposal date is optional, but it records the facts the statute depends on and gives the former lessee a chance to collect items.

• Storage and Moving Receipts

  Keep receipts for moving and storing the goods. Storage and moving expenses incurred in disposing of the property that are greater than the sale proceeds may be recovered from the lessee's security deposit under N.D.C.C. 47-16-30.1.

• The Sale Record and the Proceeds

  Record the date, method, buyer and price of any sale. The statute says the lessor is entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the property, and it sets no surplus account or claim period for the lessee.

• The Lien After a Judgment of Eviction

  Where the goods were removed after a judgment of eviction was obtained and the special execution was served, the lessor has a lien for the reasonable amount of storage and moving expenses and may retain possession until the charges have been paid. Record the charges and the release date.

• Any Prior Perfected Security Interest

  The lessor's lien does not have priority over a prior perfected security interest in the property. Note any item a lender or seller holds a perfected security interest in, since that creditor ranks ahead of the storage and moving charges.