JW, LLC v. Ayer and Martell, 197 Vt. 118 (2014)

Citation: JW, LLC v. Ayer and Martell, 197 Vt. 118 (2014)
Parent Document: JW, LLC v. Ayer and Martell, 197 Vt. 118 (2014)
Jurisdiction: Vermont (state)
Effective Date: 2014-07-18
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2684862/jw-llc-v-ayer-and-martell/ ↗

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applies to a tenant in a “residential dwelling unit” and only to property left in a dwelling unit that has been abandoned or that the tenant has vacated. As the trial court aptly noted in this case, the personal property remaining in a dwelling unit after ejectment, which fits under 12 V.S.A. § 4854a, does not meet the requirements of 9 V.S.A. § 4462 because the dwelling unit has not been abandoned and the tenants have not vacated. 9 V.S.A. § 4462(a) (defining abandoned dwelling unit as one where reasonable person would believe unit is no longer occupied, rent is not current and landlord has made reasonable efforts to contact tenant). Here, the tenants were still present on the property when the sheriff arrived to execute the writ of possession, and therefore the trial court correctly concluded that it was “obvious that the property was not ‘abandoned.’ ” Therefore, 9 V.S.A. § 4462(a) is not made obsolete; it has continued viability in situations where a residential tenant abandons or vacates a dwelling unit without being formally evicted, and 12 V.S.A. § 4854a applies in circumstances where 9 V.S.A. § 4462(a) does not.

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