My landlord gave me 1 week notice, moved all my stuff into storage, and changed the locks while I was gone. He refunded my deposit and last month’s rent
My landlord gave me basically a one week notice because the building I’m renting in is being demolished, and the whole situation escalated so fast that I still can’t fully process it.
The property was apparently sold/acquired for a redevelopment project and they’re planning to tear down the existing buildings and replace them with a much larger apartment complex. From what I understand, the current landlord is part of the deal and is supposed to receive a couple of apartments in the new building once it’s finished.
About a week ago he told me I needed to move out ASAP because demolition prep was starting “very soon.” I was stressed but still trying to figure out where I was supposed to go on such short notice, how to move everything, what to do about work, storage, etc. I honestly thought I had at least a little more time.
Then while I was away for part of the day, he apparently had workers come in, move all of my belongings out of the apartment into a storage unit, and change the locks. When I came back, I literally couldn’t get into the place I had been living in. The surrounding area already had markings/barriers for demolition prep and it felt like the entire property had suddenly become a construction site overnight.
Thankfully my belongings don’t seem damaged from what I’ve checked so far, and to be fair he did refund my security deposit and returned my last month’s rent without arguing. He also paid for the storage unit from what I can tell. But even with that, the whole thing feels unbelievably wrong.
It’s such a weird feeling to come home and realize someone decided, without you present, that you no longer live there. No proper move-out process, no real discussion, no court order, no official eviction process that I know of just “your stuff has been moved and you can’t enter anymore.”
What makes it even more surreal is that I wasn’t refusing to leave forever or trying to cause problems. I just needed more than one week to sort out housing and move my life somewhere else.
Now I’m trying to figure out whether this was actually legal, or if my landlord massively crossed the line by removing my belongings and locking me out before I had formally moved out myself.
EDIT: my rent was already ending at the end of this month, so I was already packing and preparing to move anyway. A lot of my stuff was already boxed up, but I still had larger things there like a sofa, dresser, and washer/dryer combo when they moved everything into storage.
EDIT 2: Thank you to everyone who replied and gave advice and support. I can’t reply to everybody, but I really appreciate all the input.
I spoke with a lawyer over the phone, and we’re meeting in person on Monday. One thing he mentioned was that if the investor is willing to spend this much money just to evict me without me even asking for anything, then they’re probably making a very large amount from this redevelopment project.
He also suggested that if my goal is reaching a settlement, there’s a chance we could achieve that without even going to court, possibly just by sending a legal letter threatening a lawsuit.
Location: Austin, Texas