QUESTION: My girlfriend and I split up pretty badly and I just moved out and went overseas for a few months. When I got back recently, I discovered my ex had just walked out of our rented flat and left all my gear in it.
When I contacted the landlord, he said he stored it for a while then auctioned it off to pay the cost of storage. He showed me the receipts and everything but there were a lot of irreplaceable things there – like rare records, pictures, books and CDs.
He says he wrote to my girlfriend telling her what he was doing but she obviously didn’t pass this on. Can I sue him for the full value of my stuff? – Barry, Bondi.
ANSWER: It sounds like your landlord has followed the correct procedure. If you go to Fair Trading’s website (fairtrading.nsw.gov.au) then click through several levels of “Tenants and home owners” material you will find “Abandoned premises and uncollected goods.”
That page details what a landlord can and can’t do with stuff tenants leave behind and it includes putting them in storage then selling them off to cover the cost. But, seriously, did you think your ex would keep them for you?
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