Idaho: Tenant Abandoned Property Notice, Storage, and Disposal Requirements

Requirements one by one

The express rule follows a court possession finding

Idaho Code § 6-316(2) starts when the court finds for the landlord and for
possession. A residential tenant then has 72 hours to remove belongings. After
that period and three days after the finding, the sheriff restores possession,
and the landlord or agent may remove and dispose of tenant property still on or
about the premises.

That permission remains subject to Article 9 security interests. Motor vehicles
follow the separate removal route cross-referenced in § 49-1806. The surveyed
provisions do not create a matching landlord-held notice, storage, and sale
process for an ordinary voluntary vacancy.

The nonpayment notice carries an advance warning

Idaho Code § 6-303(2) requires a nonpayment notice to tell the tenant that a
court judgment will start a 72-hour residential belongings period before the
landlord may remove and dispose under § 6-316. This is an eviction notice before
judgment, not a post-judgment inventory or reclamation notice.

Sections 6-303 and 6-316 state no later mailing, posting, publication, apparent-
owner notice, property description, storage address, charges, or statutory
abandoned-property form.

The statute does not create a sale or surplus process

After the statutory period, § 6-316 permits removal and disposal without further
compensation or consideration to the tenant. It does not require storage, a
public or private sale, valuation, competitive bids, advertising, an accounting,
a surplus hold, or government remittance.

The court may, on good cause, award the landlord reasonable costs and expenses
for removal and restoration that are not otherwise provided in the chapter.

What trips people up

The 72 hours is tied to the court result, not a voluntary landlord notice.
The statute places the period after the possession finding and does not let a
landlord substitute a self-created 15-day notice for the judgment route.

Commercial extensions do not extend the residential period. Section 6-316
allows more than seven days on good cause for a commercial tenant. It states no
parallel residential extension.

Third-party security interests survive the disposal authority. The statute
expressly makes the landlord's power subject to security interests under Idaho's
Article 9.

Common questions

Must the landlord store the belongings after the 72 hours?

Section 6-316 states no landlord storage period. It permits removal and disposal
after the statutory timing conditions are met.

Is a 15-day abandoned-property notice required?

No such notice appears in §§ 6-303 or 6-316. The express notice rule is the
advance warning inside a nonpayment eviction notice.

Must the landlord sell higher-value property?

No. The statute has no dollar threshold, auction, sale, appraisal, or bidding
requirement for property covered by § 6-316(2).

Does the tenant receive sale proceeds?

The section creates no sale-proceeds process and permits disposal without
further compensation or consideration to the tenant, subject to the stated
security-interest limit.

Statutes and sources

• Idaho Code § 6-303(2). Required belongings warning in a nonpayment
  eviction notice. Idaho State
  Legislature
  (accessed July 22, 2026).

• Idaho Code § 6-316(2). Post-finding 72-hour period, writ delivery,
  restoration, property removal/disposal, security-interest and vehicle limits,
  and possible landlord costs. Idaho State
  Legislature
  (accessed July 22, 2026).