Anyone well versed on the storage rules in NSW?

For anyone following my fun of late, my (ex) tenants are yet to contact the PM to obtain access to the property for their possessions, a week after the sheriff visit. The house is still completely furnished, including kids' toys and all of the family's clothes. I'm hoping they are just using my property for storage until they find somewhere else to live and we get a call soon for everything to go.

I've read the information on the Fair Trading website, but it's a little vague. It states that an owner must keep the tenant's possessions for at least 14 days. So I don't know when I can dispose of them, based on the "at least" part.

Has anyone been in this position before, or is a PM well versed on this? I'm wondering whether I should just hire a removalist to pack and get everything out to a storage shed asap so I can get in there and prepare the place for relisting or if I wait 14 days and then I can dispose?
 
Disposal of unclaimed items

You can dispose of any rubbish or perishable items left behind by the tenant immediately. For example, a broken chair and a pile of old newspapers, perishable food left in a cupboard or dying pot plants in the yard. You do not have to notify the tenant or get their consent to dispose of such items. However, you must be reasonably sure that what you are disposing of is in fact rubbish.

If the former tenant fails to reclaim the goods within the 14 days you can choose to:
● donate the goods to charity (e.g. leave clothes in a clothing bin or arrange for furniture etc to be collected), or
● dispose of the goods in a lawful manner (e.g. take them to the tip or organise a council collection if such a service is available in your area), or
● keep the goods in the property if they are useful fixtures and fittings (e.g. curtains), or
● sell the goods for fair value and give the proceeds to the tenant (less the occupation fee and reasonable costs of the sale) or send it to the Office of State Revenue after 6 years as unclaimed money.

Unclaimed personal documents (such as passports, wallets etc) can be disposed of after the 90 days in an appropriate manner, such as by returning to the issuing authority (wherever possible) or by shredding.

If you have followed the law correctly, you are protected if the tenant comes back to you later about the goods. However, if the law was not followed you could be ordered by the Tribunal to pay compensation to the tenant. This could include any damage to the items while they were in your possession.


Wait until the 15th day, date stamp photographs of what was left behind and filenote how you disposed of it.
 
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