If the tenant cannot be contacted, the personal documents must be given to the Office of the Public Trustee, within seven days of the end of the tenancy. The lessor/agent must make a reasonable effort to contact the tenant about any found items. Personal documents (for example: money, birth certificates, photographs) must be given to the tenant.

Personal documents left behindĭocuments are defined in the Act to mean personal documents and money. See the Ending a tenancy agreement for tenants/residents fact sheet, Ending a tenancy agreement for managing parties fact sheet and Lease break, abandonment and goods left behind fact sheet for more information about ending agreements. The tenancy agreement must be ended before the lessor/agent can remove any goods and documents that are left by the tenant. Goods and documents may only be dealt with in the manner described in this fact sheet once the tenancy agreement has ended and the lessor/agent reasonably believes that the goods and documents have been abandoned.įailure to deal with goods and documents in the way described below can be reported to the Compliance and Enforcement Unit of the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) and may incur penalties. The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008(the Act) contains provisions dealing with goods and documents that are left behind by tenants when they leave or abandon premises.

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