Roommate left, but left his stuff & nonpayment of rent

[fabfrust]

I live in California.

I had verbal agreement with a friend to rent my room in my townhouse on a month-to-month basis. He never paid rent.

Since he didn't come up with rent, I asked him to move out and gave him 45 days notice in person and in an email. He didn't leave until the 60 day mark. It's been almost a month since he has left and he has not removed ANY of his things, though he has left his keys behind. He did not leave me the remote control for the gate nor the garage door, but is supposidly mailing them Fedex to me.

What can I do about his items? If it was a couple of boxes it wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm talking queen size bed, mattress and two huge dressers. I would like to sell it to make up for rent or even just donate it to Goodwill. His items are taking up a 12x12 space.

I would also like him to pay the rent for the time period in which he resided on my property.

The only three ways I can contact him and ususually without response is call and leave a voicemail on cell phone, leave a text message on cell phone or email his hotmail account, which he rarely responds to.

Do I have any recourse? Small claims? Can I donate his things or sell them?

[calebb]

Small claims court sounds reasonable to me. Make a list of the financial obligations you believe he has to you. He might bring the missing/stolen items to court.

I'm not a lawyer, nor am I familiar with the California landlord-tenant laws, but I wouldn't sell his things until you either thoroughly research appropriate laws or consult an attorney for advice. (If you do sue him, you can add a reasonable storage fee to your list - research local self-storage units to get an estimate)