What to Do If a Tenant Disappears/ Abandons Property?

Because of the war, many business owners in Ukraine have moved to safer locations and abandoned their rented premises. At the same time, many rental contracts have not been terminated, so owners have the question of how to terminate such contracts and rent out the premises to other entrepreneurs.

How to terminate the lease?

Usually, the fact of terminating a rental agreement is the signing of an acceptance certificate for the premises. But there are cases in which the owner has the right to terminate the contract unilaterally.
Grounds for terminating a lease agreement unilaterally:

1. Force majeure. Specific conditions must be spelled out in the contract. For example, the contract may state that the lessor or lessee may cancel the lease due to non-payment of rent for several months because of force majeure. If the agreement is unilaterally terminated, one party must notify the other by sending a letter to the last known address or residence address of the head of the business.
2. The Civil Code of Ukraine provides grounds for unilateral termination of a lease if rent has not been paid for three months. The date of termination will be the date on which the lessor notified the tenant about termination of the lease. The law does not specify how the notice must be sent, the main thing is to confirm that the renter has received the notice.

The best way to notify the tenant that the lease is being terminated is to send a letter by mail with return receipt. The notice can be sent to the tenant's last known address.
If the tenant fails to leave the leased premises after receiving notice of termination, the lessor has the right to demand payment of double the rent.
If the renter is on temporarily occupied territory and there is no way to receive notice, pay rent, or release the premises, it is better to terminate the lease in court.

What to do with tenant abandoned property?

If the tenant has disappeared and abandoned his/her property, you should first check the rental agreement and see if there are any special arrangements regarding such property. In the case of nothing is specified, remember: you can't just throw away the lessee's belongings, even if you have unilaterally terminated the lease.
When the tenant comes back, he or she can accuse you of theft and charge you for the missing items. To avoid such problems, the renter can:

• Transfer the renter's property into the storage of a third-party entity. If possible, inform the tenant about the time and place of the property transportation. If it is not possible, draw up a description of the property in the presence of witnesses.
• Store such property by yourself. You may later seek compensation from the tenant for the storage of his or her belongings.
• Sell the lessee's property to cover his rent debt. Do this at public auction. The process is the same as for the sale of mortgaged property.
• Apply to the court with a claim for removal of obstacles in using the premises. To do this, it is necessary to prove that the tenant does not pay rent, and the remaining property obstructs the use of the premises.