Landlord dispute, should I follow through to small claims court?

Question

I have been renting a place since March of 2008, I pay on a week to week basis, From Friday to Friday. Now I recently lost my job and could no longer afford my house. So I told my landlord I was moving out. Now I had paid my rent July 11th and it was good until July 18th. I told him I was moving out and that I needed time. We started on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We have a small vehicle and was not able to finish. There was still about 4,000 dollars worth of things in there. All of my winter clothes, Ipod's, suround sound system, etc....we left Sunday with a few more things, and came back Tuesday because we didnt have ANY money for gas to get back to the house, we moved 20 mins away. But with in Monday and early Tuesday he moved it all out. Now, he says it was nothing but trash and he is lying. Who would throw away all that stuff? So what im wondering is how should I go about this, he no longer has it. By the way i live in NC. SERIOUS ANSWERS PLEASE!!!!! Thank you.

Answer 1

what he did was illegal!!!

Even if you did legitimatly abandon that stuff - there are laws regarding abandoned items, and he CANNOT just throw it out right away.  Check the laws for NC but all states have a required # of days that he has to wait before doing anything with it, he then has to send a notice to any known address for you and give you adiquate time to make arangements for you to get your stuff.

ALSO - if he entered the unit before July 18 that was illegal too!!

Take him to court with whatever receipts and proof that you have of the value of what was left.

Answer 2

Well do you have any proof of what was left? any receipts? for proof? when you go to small claims court you need something as proof or you won't have enough evidence to support your claim and will most likely lose.

Answer 3

You gave notice on the 11th that you would be out.

You had until the 18th to leave.

As of the 19th anything left is abandoned property.

I do not know how your days of the week fall in this time scale, but if he trashed it out prior to the 19th you have a case, other wise he can bill you for his trouble.

What it was has nothing to do with it, stuff is stuff, the laws do not vary by what the stuff is.

Answer 4

I am a landlord but I live in Florida so this might not be the case in NC, If you told him before the 7/11th then you have a case. If I were you I would GO TO COURT TO GET WHAT IS MINE. You will need pics. or recipets for what you claim. If you have no recipts or pics you will be fighting an uphill battle.