u/MarshyHope

Location: Maryland

I am the president of my neighborhood HOA. There is an old farmhouse that is used as a community meeting spot on the bottom floor, and the 2nd floor is an apartment.

We had a tenant for about 3 years who did not have a specific lease. Late last year, he lost his job. We tried to work with him and gave him until March 31st to get a new job, and start paying rent/back pay for previous month's rent. The HOA communicated this to him through text messages. March 31st came and went, and the tenant did not have a new job, nor had he paid any rent. We sent a notice to vacate on April 14th to his parents house, posted it on the door of the apartment, and sent it to him via text message. The notice gave him 10 days to remove his belongings. He has read receipts on his phone, so it was read, but not responded to.

It appeared that he had moved out of the apartment on or around April 14th as no one has seen him since that date, and his pets are no longer there. We have asked multiple times via read receipt texts to remove his belongings from the house so we can get it ready to be rented to someone new. He showed up on May 5th and told us that he was moving some things out. Very few, if any, of his belongings have been removed from the property. He has also not stayed at the apartment for more than a month at this point. We have not started formal eviction procedures due to the fact that he willingly left.

So I have a couple questions:

• At what point can his belongings be considered to be abandoned?
• What can we, as the landlord, do with the belongings left behind?
• What notice must be given to the former tenant before his belongings are removed from the property?

Police say they're not investigating leaving Delegate outraged