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Tenant Abandoned Property Laws in Vermont

In Vermont, a landlord must mail written notice and keep an abandoning tenant's property for 60 days; unclaimed property then becomes the landlord's.

Last checked . General information, not legal advice.

Vermont at a glance

Written notice required
Yes, mailed to last known address
No notice is needed if the tenant told the landlord they moved out or left at the end of the rental agreement, or 15 days after a writ of possession is served.
Holding period
60 days
The property must be kept in a safe, dry, secured place. Trash may be disposed of right away.
After the holding period
Unclaimed property becomes the landlord's
To reclaim, the tenant gives a written description and pays reasonable storage costs within 60 days.

Sources

Last checked

The rules in Vermont

Does a landlord in Vermont have to notify the tenant before disposing of left-behind property?

Yes, mailed to last known address. Written notice required in Vermont: yes, mailed to last known address. No notice is needed if the tenant told the landlord they moved out or left at the end of the rental agreement, or 15 days after a writ of possession is served.

How long must a landlord in Vermont keep a tenant's abandoned property?

Holding period in Vermont: 60 days. The property must be kept in a safe, dry, secured place. Trash may be disposed of right away.

What can a landlord in Vermont do with abandoned property after the waiting period?

After the holding period in Vermont: Unclaimed property becomes the landlord's. To reclaim, the tenant gives a written description and pays reasonable storage costs within 60 days.

Where do the Vermont tenant abandoned property laws come from?

The rules above come from 9 V.S.A. 4462 and 12 V.S.A. 4854a. Each source is linked on this page. We last checked them in October 2026.

Good to know

After an eviction, a landlord may dispose of remaining property without notice 15 days after the writ of possession is served or the landlord is restored to possession, whichever is later (40 days in some mobile home park cases).

What this means in practice

Before treating anything as abandoned, confirm that the tenancy has actually ended. Some statutes define when a unit counts as abandoned, and removing property while a tenant still has a right to possession can expose a landlord to claims for wrongful eviction or conversion.

Keep a written record. Photos or a video of the items, a dated inventory, a copy of any notice sent and proof of how it was delivered make it much easier to show that the required steps were followed if the former tenant later asks for the property or its value.

Store items safely and in a reasonable way during any holding period. Where a statute allows the landlord to charge reasonable moving and storage costs, or to keep sale proceeds to cover those costs, the rules on what may be charged and what happens to any surplus vary, so check the exact text for your state.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change, and cities can add their own rules, so check the current statute before you rely on it.