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What happens to your personal property when you are evicted?



If the landlord is granted the judgment in the eviction case, the landlord schedules a court-supervised move out. In Ohio, there is no law saying how the move out is to be done, so court-ordered move outs vary from city to city.

The tenant may be told the actual move out date, or just the date by which the tenant must move, with the set out taking place a day or two later.

In most cities, the court requires the landlord to have an agent at the property for the move out. The court’s bailiffs remove any tenants and other occupants from the house or apartment and keep the peace. Some courts, like Cleveland, require the landlord to hire licensed, bonded movers to move the tenant’s personal property, furniture, and other belongings. Others may permit the landlord or the landlord’s agents to move the property.

Most courts, including Cleveland, have the movers place the tenant’s property on the tree lawn. Others require the landlord to put the tenant’s property in storage; the tenant usually must pay the storage company a fee to retrieve their belongings.

The bailiffs may change this process if setting out the property may cause a health or safety issue, for example, if bedbugs or roaches are present. The bailiffs normally take items like weapons, cash or drugs, that cannot be set out safely, back to the court for safekeeping. The tenant can contact the court about retrieving those items.

The landlord eventually can dispose of tenants’ property left on the tree lawn as trash.

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