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Does anyone who owns rental property know the ramifications of a tenant being in jail?

Asked by rojo (24179points) June 12th, 2013

I have a situation I have not encountered before; I have a lease contract with two tenant. One tenant is in jail with, evidently, no way to make bail and no release date set. The other has not been seen or heard from since we began trying around the first of the month. He has changed his number, does not respond to e-mails, or letters mailed to his address. I have checked the apartment daily for the past nine days and no one has been inside it except me. I have issued a Notice to Quit in all legal forms required (including a copy to the jail) with no response.
There is very little left in the apartment, a bed, some cds, small amount of food, sofa, love seat, tv, personal items such as razors, some clothing, cell phone.

My rental lease reads in part:

Abandonment is defined as when:

a) Everybody appears to have moved out in the landlord’s reasonable judgment;
b) Clothes, furniture, and personal belongings have been substantially removed from the dwelling; and
c) No one has been in the dwelling for five consecutive days while the rent is due and unpaid.
or
A dwelling is abandoned 10 days after the death of a sole resident.

Well, the criteria of the first three items seems to have been met. The place has very little in it, most but not all personal effects have been removed, no one has been in it for 9 days and rent is past due and unpaid.
But, with the one tenant incarcerated can I still claim it is abandoned?

Any and all insight appreciated

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