Tenant Left Belongings Behind in Nova Scotia

You cannot simply keep, sell or throw out what a former tenant leaves behind. The Residential Tenancies Act says a landlord may not hold or dispose of a tenant's personal property except under an order of the Director or as otherwise authorized by law. Residential Tenancies Act, s. 5

When a tenant has abandoned the unit, the Act and the Regulations give you a process instead. You make an inventory on Form A, file it with the Director (the Residential Tenancies Program), send the tenant a copy, and wait. After 30 days the Director can authorize what happens to the goods, and the route depends on what they are worth.

The Residential Tenancies Regulations, ss. 23 to 24B set the detail. The province also publishes the forms on its residential tenancy forms page. The tenant-side view of an ended tenancy is in ending a tenancy in Nova Scotia.

The Act and the Regulations do not define "abandoned". That matters, because every step below starts with property left after the tenant has abandoned the unit. The Act uses the idea in three places:

• You may enter without written notice if the tenant reasonably appears to have abandoned the premises (Statutory Condition 7A).
• You must try to limit your losses if a tenant abandons or leaves in a way the Act does not allow (Statutory Condition 6).
• The property rules in s. 5(3) apply once the tenant has abandoned the unit.

Because there is no checklist in the law, treat the question carefully. Note the date you noticed the unit looked empty, what you saw, any messages with the tenant, and whether keys came back. If the tenant is still living there after a notice, that is a different problem: see what to do when a tenant won't leave after notice. If you cannot tell whether the tenant is gone, what to do when a tenant has disappeared covers the first steps.

1. Make the inventory. List the items on Form A. Describe them well enough that a stranger could tell what was there and roughly what it was worth.
2. File Form A with the Director (Residential Tenancies Program).
3. Send the tenant a copy. Use registered mail, express post or courier to a known new address. If the lease gives an email address, you can email the copy. If you have neither, send it to the next of kin's address on the lease.
4. Wait 30 days from the date Form A is filed and mailed. Keep the goods safe in the meantime. You may charge for storage.
5. Ask the Director for authority. Do not act until the Director has authorized disposal or sale in writing.
6. Dispose or sell as authorized and keep your records.

The Ending a Tenancy guide says the same thing in plain language: landlords can charge to store items, and valuable items must be stored for 30 days. Ending a Tenancy guide

Situation	What the Regulations allow
Estimated value of $500 or less in total	After 30 days from filing and mailing Form A, the Director may authorize disposal in writing by any method convenient to you.
Worth more than $500 in total	Store for 30 days. The Director may then authorize a public sale. File Form B (accounting of the sale) within 10 days of the sale.
Unsanitary or unsafe to store	You may dispose of it immediately. File Form A with the Director and mail a copy to the tenant or next of kin within 10 days of the disposal.
No monetary value, or storing it costs more than a sale would bring	You may dispose of it immediately. Keep your inventory for 1 year.

The no-value shortcut does not cover things like personal documents and photographs. Do not treat those as worthless. When in doubt, list the item on Form A and wait.

After a sale, the money goes first to rent the tenant owes. Next it covers storage costs or damages for the unit. Any balance goes to the Public Trustee, not to you.

Most problems come from moving too fast. Nova Scotia's Ending a Tenancy guide warns that a landlord who disposes of abandoned property against the Act or the Regulations risks being liable to the tenant for the value of the goods.

• Throwing things out at once. Only the unsafe, unsanitary and no-value categories allow immediate disposal. Everything else waits for the 30 days and the Director's authority.
• Holding goods as leverage. The Act does not let you keep a tenant's property to force payment. Unpaid rent comes out of sale proceeds under the process, or you claim it through the Director.
• Blocking access during the tenancy. A landlord may not bar a tenant from free access to the premises while the tenancy lasts (s. 5A). Statutory Condition 8 bars lock changes without mutual consent. Both s. 5(1) and s. 5A are offences under s. 23, with a fine of up to $1,000.
• Skipping the copy. The copy of Form A to the tenant, or the next of kin on the lease, is part of the process.
• A tenant who has died. The Act's definition of tenant includes a personal representative, and the Form A copy goes to the next of kin named in the lease if no new address or email is known.

Read what to do if a tenant has abandoned property for the general picture before you act.

The belongings process runs alongside your money claims. It does not replace them.

• Security deposit. You must return the deposit with interest within 10 days of the lease ending. To keep any part without the tenant's written consent, file a Security Deposit Claim (Form R) with the Director within the same 10 days and send the tenant a copy. See the Nova Scotia landlord deposit guide.
• Larger claims. If unpaid rent or damage is more than the deposit, you may file Form J, the application to the Director. The fee is $31.15, as stated in the Regulations.
• Re-renting. If the tenant left without proper notice, you must make attempts to re-rent the unit. The Director's compensation policy says losses are covered only up to the hearing date, and a landlord who does not make reasonable attempts to limit the loss is not entitled to compensation.

If the tenant says you got rid of something valuable too early, the dispute goes to the Director. Your Form A, your dates, the mailing proof and any photos are your evidence.

This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.