What Happens To Items in an Apartment After an Eviction?

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to the items of an apartment that went through an eviction, this video might just answer your questions. TikTokers are exploring the moral dilemma of a property manager taking items left behind in the apartment of an evicted tenant.

In the video posted by Kay (@_kaxyla), someone gathers items from an apartment. The apartment is mostly empty with a few items remaining, including two stools, a broom, and some decor. Someone places two lamps on a cart with a few other items. It is unclear who the person in the video grabbing the items is and if Kay is the person recording.

“Are you taking these two?” the person recording asks while giggling.

“No,” the person grabbing the items responds.

The video is captioned, “We literally just found $300 worth of house decor … #fyp #propertymanagement #eviction.”

The video’s text overlay also reads: “POV: Perks of being in property management is taking whatever you want from a unit that has been evicted.”

The poster also tagged Florida as the location.

@_kaxyla_ We literally just found $300 worth of house decor💰 #fyp #propertymanagement #eviction ♬ original sound – Kay

The video has over 124,000 views. And viewers in the comments section are unsure what to make of the situation.

“Karma has a funny way of…nvm keep laughing at someone’s misfortune,” one commenter said.

“Hopefully the evicted are safe, okay, and able to find/furnish a new space,” another hoped.

“As a landlord myself in CA, there’s laws and you still gotta hold it if it exceeds a certain amount. The evicted residents can still come retrieve items,” a different commenter stated.

So what exactly is the protocol for the remaining items of an evicted tenant’s apartment?

It varies from state to state. According to State Property Management LLC, the process in Florida is pretty straightforward. First, property managers are supposed to let the previous tenant know of the belongings left behind by sharing with them an inventory list, ideally with images. After delivering the notice to them, the former tenants have 10-15 days to claim the items.

Next, State Property Management LLC states that if the tenant hasn’t claimed their abandoned possessions after the notice period and the property you found is valued under $500, you are allowed to claim the items for personal use or discard them. On the other hand, “If the abandoned property is worth $500 or more, you are required to publicly put the items up for sale.”

It is unclear if the property manager for this property followed the correct legal procedures. However, someone did comment, “Don’t you have to wait a certain period to allow them to collect their things?”

Kay replied, “yes.”

Echoing the concerns expressed by some of the comments, getting evicted can be a stressful process. Hopefully, the leftover items won’t be missed by the previous tenants and the correct procedures were followed before property managers acquired them.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Kay for comment via Instagram.

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