to the question in the title:

Does a Landlord Own Personal Property Left by a Prior Tenant
that depends on whether the former tenant abandoned the property or gave it to the landlord. If either of those situations are present, yes, that property belongs to the landlord. If the property was not abandoned such that the laws of the state allowed the landlord to lay claim to the property, it still belongs to the former tenant.


In either case, it does not belong to a subsequent tenant (such as yourself) unless the landlord expressly gifted it to you. From the title question it sounds like you believe you can claim the property simply because it was in the house when you rented it; you can't.