I read your FAQ on Landlord and illegal clauses. You listed some examples. Can you comment on the following clause?
"The Lessee shall at the expiration...of this lessee, remove all of lessee's goods and effects ....either inside or outside the leased premise...shall deliver to lessor the leased premise...in the event that lessee's failure to remove lessee's property... lessor is authorized, without liability to lessee for lose or damage and at the sole risk of lessee, to remove and store at lessee's expense or sell...or to destroy such property"
This sounds to me to be an illegal clause. I understand landlords want the property back free from lesee's property but to give Landlord the permission to destroy property seems too much. What if I left my car in the parking lot? Landlord gets to sell or destroy the car before they ask me to come take it off their property. This seems to be malicious, which is exactly what 93A protects consumers from. Any thoughts?
Submitted by Remnkemi on Mon, 11/22/2010 - 20:15
Abandoned property
Although the clause may not be illegal, in and of itself, a landlord who relies on it and acts unreasonably with respect to a tenant's property may create a problem for himself. I always caution landlords to use caution when dealing with a tenant's abandoned property, because you never know how a judge will see the situation.
And, I have to admit that I am frequently surprised at the expectations tenants have when it comes to their belongings. It is extremely common for tenants to simply leave their stuff behind and then come back weeks or months later expecting to collect their stuff. I don't get it. Is the landlord a free self-storage facility? Is the landlord the tenant's mother, someone who will pick up after him?
Again, because of the odd behavior of some tenants, and because of the uncertainty surrounding the issue, landlords should proceed with caution and document all efforts to return the property to the tenant.
Sorry I forgot to tell you
Sorry I forgot to tell you that i was the tenant. I have another contract stating she has to keep my outdoor sign for 6 months. But she took it down without telling me and apparently lost it. I came upon this clause in the original lease and I thought it fits your examples of illegal clauses.