CPA · Residential Tenancies Act
Part 3 — Remedies of Landlords and Tenants
31 Abandoned goods
residential premises by a tenant who has
(a) abandoned the premises, or
(b) vacated the premises and whose tenancy has expired or been
terminated.
(2) A landlord who believes on reasonable grounds that abandoned
goods have a total market value of less than the prescribed amount
may dispose of the goods.
(3) Notwithstanding that abandoned goods have a value equal to or
greater than the prescribed amount, a landlord who on reasonable
grounds believes
(a) that the storage of the goods would be unsanitary or unsafe
or would rapidly result in total or substantial depreciation in
their market value, or
(b) that the cost of removing, storing and selling the goods
would exceed the proceeds of their sale,
may sell the goods by a means and for a price that the landlord
believes is reasonable.
(4) If subsections (2) and (3) do not apply, the landlord
(a) shall store or arrange for storage of the goods on behalf of
the tenant until the expiration of the prescribed period after
the date of their abandonment, and
(b) afterwards may dispose of the goods by public auction or,
with the approval of a court, by private sale.
(5) If no bid is received for the abandoned goods at a public
auction held under subsection (4)(b), the landlord may dispose of
the goods.
(6) No liability attaches to a person for
(a) selling goods under subsection (3) or (4)(b), or
(b) disposing of goods under subsection (2) or (5).
(7) Where abandoned goods are disposed of or sold under this
section, the person acquiring the goods on the disposal or sale
acquires the tenant's interest in those goods and the tenant's
interest in the goods is extinguished.
(8) A landlord shall, on payment of the landlord's proper costs of
removing and storing the abandoned goods, give up possession of
the goods to the tenant or to the person entitled to them.
(9) A landlord may apply the proceeds of any sale of abandoned
goods
(a) to the landlord's proper costs of removing, storing and
selling the goods, and
(b) to satisfy the tenant's liabilities to the landlord in respect of
the tenancy, if the liabilities are established in accordance
with the regulations,
and shall pay the surplus, if any, to the Minister.
(10) The Minister shall retain the surplus on behalf of the tenant
for one year and afterwards, if the tenant has not claimed it, pay the
surplus into the General Revenue Fund.
(11) On payment of the surplus into the General Revenue Fund
under subsection (10), the tenant's claim to that surplus is
extinguished.
(12) This section does not apply to goods on premises against
which a civil enforcement agency executes an order of possession.
(13) A landlord shall keep a record of the storage, disposition or
sale of goods under this section including
(a) a description of the goods,
(b) the period for which and the location at which they were
stored,
(c) in a case where subsection (8 ) applies, the costs claimed by
the landlord and the date on which the goods were returned
to the tenant,
(d) where the goods are sold, th e particulars of the sale, the
amount claimed by the landlord under subsection (9) and the
amount, if any, paid to the Minister under subsection (9),
and
(e) where the goods are neither re turned to the tenant nor sold,
the manner in which they were disposed of.
(14) A landlord shall keep a record referred to in subsection (13)
as it relates to particular goods for at least 3 years after the goods
were returned to the tenant, sold or disposed of, as the case may be.
2004 cR-17.1 s31;2006 c23 s69;2008 c43 s10;2011 c14 s25