Abandonment
Arkansas

Harris v. Whipple, Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Div. 2, No. CA97-1522 (1998)

      This case demonstrates what can happen even when Landlords do everything by the book. The trial court was apparently moved by the unfortunate plight of a Tenant, the appeals court followed the law.
      The Landlord posted a notice to vacate after the Tenant had apparently moved and failed to pay the rent, waited the appropriate time period, and moved into the premises.

Whipple leased a house-trailer from Harris in Arkansas. The lease covered March to August 1995.

The Tenant in this case did not pay the rent in August as agreed, and began moving out of the rented trailer on Aug. 24. The Tenant later returned to the trailer, but the Landlord had changed the locks. As required by state statute, the Landlord first posted a notice to vacate sign on the trailer's door, then four days later, took possession of the trailer and began cleaning and repairing it. The Tenant said she later returned because she wanted to retrieve her new washer and dryer and her children's clothes.

The Tenant sued the Landlord, seeking damages for the cost of the property remaining in the trailer, for an electric bill, and for her laundry bills after the Landlord took her washer and dryer. She valued the appliances at $500, her electric bill at almost $500, and her laundry bill as $2,400. ($25 per week for two years.)

The Tenant, Whipple, said she moved out of the trailer and didn't intend to live there, but she hadn't completely removed her belongings before the Landlord locked her out. She admitted to owing $65 rent for July, as well as $450 rent for August and September. She also admitted to damaging the trailer.

The Landlord claimed that she had a "Landlord lien" on the Tenant's belongings and therefore had a right to keep them. According to the Landlord, the Tenant abandoned her property when she moved out of the trailer without taking it. The Landlord relied on a Arkansas statute that stated: all property left on the premises by a Tenant "shall be considered abandoned" and could be disposed of as the Landlord saw fit. The statute also stated any property placed on the premises by the Tenant was subject to a lien in favor of the Landlord for any money due under the lease.

The trial court ruled in the Tenant's favor, awarding her more than $2,730 plus interest. The damages were based on the value of the Tenant's property, the amount due her for a utility bill and her laundry bills, minus the amount she owed in unpaid rent. According to the court, the statute didn't apply because the Tenant hadn't abandoned the property left in the trailer.

The Landlord appealed, claiming the court improperly refused to apply the Landlord lien statute to her retention of the Tenant's belongings.

DECISION: Reversed; judgment for the Landlord.

The Landlord was right, the trial court should have applied the Landlord Lien statute. The Landlord was entitled to $665, the amount of unpaid rent t plus $150 for damages to the trailer.

The statute clearly allowed the Landlord to dispose of the Tenant's belongings as she saw fit. The statute provided that all property left on the premises by a Tenant was abandoned and could be disposed of by the Landlord. The word "shall" meant the state Legislature intended mandatory compliance with the statute. By leaving the washer, dryer, and other belongings in the trailer after she moved most of her belongings out, the Tenant abandoned them.

There was no proof the Tenant intended to remain in the trailer or tried to reoccupy it after she moved most of her belongings. Instead, she moved her family and most of her belongings from the trailer, and didn't notify the Landlord that she was moving or that she would be returning for her property.

The trial court had no basis for awarding the Tenant $2,400 for laundry bills she may have incurred during the two years after she moved. The Tenant abandoned the washer and dryer, and the Landlord acted properly when she entered the trailer and disposed of them.

Also see:     Mid-Century Insurance Company v. Miller, 9-35 S. W. 2d 302 (1996).