Can a landlord in maryland throw your belongings away?

[edin]

I was recently living in a sober house in MD and was caught with alcohol. I had just paid a weeks rent. I was asked to leave the premises and complied. The manager of the house not the owner took all my belongings clothes, documents,medications etc and threw them in the garbage immediately. My contract says I have 30 days to collect my belongings. What is MD law on this and what legal options do I have?

[treasigh]

Yeah, file a lawsuit.

[gedalyahu]

Sober living is usually not a landlord / tenant situation. It's typically a "housing agreement". The difference is with landlord / tenant is no way they can ask you to leave immediately, they would have to go through the court system and get a legal eviction. Since you broke the house rules and it's an agreement situation, you can be removed immediately.

If your agreement says you have 30 days, then you have 30 days and you can sue them if they get rid of the items before that.

[porter]

Read your contract. Those places have different rules than regular landlord-tenant laws. What does it say about people who violate the terms of the agreement?

[barend31]

Usually, the law requires that you be given reasonable opportunity to collect your items---whether the owner is required to notify you or how long the owner has to keep your items for varies by jurisdiction. In any case, if your contract says you have 30 days, then you have 30 days. By putting your items in the garbage, the owner has breached the agreement between you.

Did you manage to get the items out of the garbage? The manager is liable for any item that was damaged or needed to be cleaned from being in the garbage, or any item you could not retrieve. If you incurred significant expense, it's a good idea to hold him accountable and go to small claims court. If you managed to get everything back okay, it'd probably cost you more in legal fees than you stand to gain from going to court.