1.24.060 Rights and Duties of Landlord and Tenant in Absence of Written Agreement to Contrary

(a) When section applicable. So far as applicable, this section governs the rights and duties of the landlord and tenant in the absence of any inconsistent provision in writing signed by both the landlord and the tenant. This section applies to any tenancy.

(b) Possession of tenant and access by landlord. Until the expiration date specified in the lease, or the termination of a periodic tenancy or tenancy at will, and so long as the tenant is not default, the tenant has the right to exclusive possession of the premises, except as hereafter provided. The landlord may upon advance notice and at reasonable times inspect the premises, make repairs and show the premises to prospective tenants or purchasers; and if the tenant is absent from the premises and the landlord reasonably believes that the entry is necessary to preserve or protect the premises, the landlord may enter without notice and with such force as appears necessary.

(c) Use of premises, additions or alterations by tenant. The tenant can make no physical changes in the nature of the premises, including decorating, removing, altering or adding to the structures thereon, without prior consent of the landlord. The tenant cannot use the premises for any unlawful purpose nor in such a manner as to interfere unreasonably with use by another occupant of the same building or group of buildings.

(d) Tenant's Fixtures. At the termination of the tenancy, the tenant may remove any fixtures installed by him if he either restores the premises to their condition prior to the installation or pays to the landlord the cost of such restoration. Where such fixtures were installed to replace similar fixtures which were part of the premises at the time of the commencement of the tenancy, and the original fixtures cannot be restored the tenant may remove fixtures installed by him only if he replaces them with fixtures at least comparable in condition and value to the original fixtures. The tenant's right to remove fixtures is not lost by an extension or renewal of a lease without reservation of such right to remove. This subsection applies to any fixtures added by the tenant for his convenience as well as those added for purposes of trade, agriculture or business; but this subsection does not govern the rights of parties other than the landlord and tenant.

(e) Storage or disposition of personalty left by tenant.

(1) If a tenant removes from the premises and leaves personal property of an apparent total value of less than $100, the landlord may:

(A) Store such personalty, with or without notice to the tenant, on or off the premises, with a lien on the personalty for actual cost of removal and storage or, if stored by the landlord, for the reasonable value of storage;

(B) Give the tenant notice, personally or by ordinary mail addressed to the tenant at his last-known address, of the landlord's intent to dispose of the personalty by sale or other appropriate means if the property is not repossessed by the tenant within 5 days of such personal service or 8 days of the date of mailing. If the tenant fails to repossess within the time specified, the landlord may proceed to dispose of such property by private or public sale or any other appropriate means. The landlord may deduct from the proceeds of sale any costs of sale and any storage charges if he has first stored the personalty under sub d. A, and send the balance of the proceeds to the tenant by registered mail addressed to his last known address; if such proceeds are returned to the landlord and are not claimed within five months after the date on which they were mailed, the proceeds shall belong to the landlord.

(2) Rights of third persons. The landlord's lien and power to dispose as provided by this subsection apply to any property left on the premises by the tenant, whether owned by him or by others. Such lien has priority over any ownership or security interest and the power to dispose under this subsection applies notwithstanding rights of others existing under any claim of ownership or security interest. Notice of intended disposition need to be given only to the tenant. The tenant or any secured party shall have the right to redeem the property at any time before the landlord has disposed of it or entered into a contract for its disposition by payment of the landlord's charges for removal, storage, disposition, arranging for the sale and reasonable attorney's fees and legal expenses.

(3) Other procedure. The remedies of this subsection are not exclusive and shall not prevent the landlord from resorting to any other available judicial procedure.