Online House Hunting

Can my ex-landlord legally keep my building & belongings? Please read on...?

I live in Tennessee. I rented a house for about 6 monts (month to month lease) & had to move recently, for many reasons. The "slumlord" would not make any repairs. There was no heat in the house & winter was coming. I paid rent in full, on time, every month. I put a lot of money into fixing things on the house, with the promise of repayment from the landlord, which never happened. Plus, he put the house up for sale w/no forewarning. He had had me sign monthly leases up until December. When I gave him the 30 day notice (which ended October 31st), he got highly upset, saying I was putting his financial situation in severe strain & said he had no choice but to accept my notice. I had several good reasons to "break" a lease anyway. The ONLY thing left there is my storage building & my belongings inside of it. The house is empty & I even cleaned it before I moved out. He is ignoring my requests in regard to the security deposit being returned. A neighbor was supposed to meet me this morning, with a trailer, to get my building. But he didn't show. I later found out that it was because the landlord had told him that as of November 1st, that my building & everything in it was HIS. He put up a no tresspassing sign & threatened to call the law on anyone who came on the property. Don't I legally have 30 more days? Surely, as good as I paid rent & kept things up, he can't legally not allow me to get my building. I even sent him a letter telling him it was taking a little longer to get the building. His mother called me at work the other day & I told her about the building & she said she would make sure it was okay. But now he's making these threats. I think he's trying to scare people into leaving it there. I want to make sure that I can legally still get my building. What about the no tresspassing sign? What should I do?

Public Comments

1. You need to take proof that the building & the items inside are yours, then go and get them. There isn't a thing he can do about it...you don't even have to tell him, but it would be a good idea. Call the local police department, inform them of what is going on. Have an officer meet you there, and also bring a witness.