In Remaq Corp. v. VIP Kitchen & Granite, Inc., 2025 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1337, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, held that a commercial tenant abandoned its personal property by failing to remove it on time, despite having ample opportunity to do so.
Remaq Corporation, the landlord, leased showroom space to VIP Kitchen & Granite, Inc. under a three-year commercial lease. After VIP Kitchen failed to pay rent for several months, Remaq obtained a judgment of possession on July 31, 2024, followed by a warrant of removal on August 5, 2024. VIP Kitchen was subsequently evicted.
After eviction, VIP Kitchen filed an Order to Show Cause seeking permission to remove kitchen cabinets installed in the showroom. Remaq opposed, relying on the lease’s abandonment clause, which provided that:
“Any equipment, fixtures, goods or other property of the Tenant that are not removed by the Tenant upon the termination of this Lease, or upon any quitting, vacating or abandonment of the Premises by the Tenant, or upon the Tenant’s eviction, will be considered as abandoned and the Landlord will have the right, without any notice to the Tenant, to sell or otherwise dispose of the same, at the expense of the Tenant, and will not be accountable to the Tenant for any part of the proceeds of such sale, if any.”
Despite this clear language, the trial court—without explanation—declined to follow the abandonment provision and instead gave VIP Kitchen another 24 hours to remove its property. VIP Kitchen failed again to remove the property.
Remaq appealed the trial court’s decision asking the Appellate Court to confirm that the property was deemed abandoned. The Appellate Court agreed. In coming to that ruling, the Appellate Court first reviewed the statutory protections of New Jersey’s “Abandoned Tenant Property Act” (N.J.S.A 2A:18-72), holding that, by the Act’s express language, it does not apply in situations like this “where a lease explicitly addresses the removal and disposal of a tenant’s property in a commercial setting”. Turning to the lease itself, the Appellate Court concluded that the abandonment clause was clear and unambiguous and that the trial court erred in disregarding it. Nevertheless, the Appellate Court upheld the lower court’s decision to grant VIP Kitchen one final 24-hour period to retrieve its belongings as a reasonable exercise of the court’s discretion. Once that window closed, however, any property remaining in the premises was deemed abandoned under the lease.
The key takeaway from this case is that tenants must remove all property before the expiration or termination of a lease—or risk losing it. Many commercial leases say any property left behind is automatically abandoned. Although some jurisdictions impose certain limits on a landlord’s right to remove and dispose a tenant’s personal property, it is better to avoid relying on those limitations. Tenants wishing to protect property that may have been inadvertently left behind should negotiate for the right to access the premises for a reasonable time after lease expiration or termination to remove their property. While most landlords would likely object to such a request, some landlords might be willing to grant tenants a short window.