How can I approach m landlord about damaged and stolen property?

This is a little complicated, but I'll try to simplify it as much as possible. Sorry it's so insanely long. My fiance and I let our landlord know in August we'd be moving out by the end of this month (September). Our lease is up today, the 30th, but we decided to leave a little early. However, we paid the rent through the entire month of September just in case we ran into some moving issues. We moved most of our things out of the house on the 13th of September, but we weren't able to get everything in one trip. The house we were moving into needed a lot of cleaning and we decided to leave the remaining few things in the old house (since our rent was still paid there) until we were able to clean. The longer we were in this new house, though, the more we felt like we were being scammed by the owner. The hot water isn't working, there's exposed wiring in the attic, the shower doors in the bathroom are broken and there was mold growing under the bathroom's wall paper. These are all things we weren't able to discover until we had the water and electricity turned on in the house. Then, the landlord announces to us he's charging us $1,100 for the first two months rent though the agreed upon price was $850 a month. This is something we're dealing with separately, but in the mean time we were looking for a new place to live and slowly removing our things from our old house. With two weeks left on our lease the landlord left me a voicemail asking when we'd be getting the rest of our stuff out of the house and if it would be okay to paint and clean around everything. I knew this was their attempt to keep our security deposit as a "cleaning fee" and I left a return voicemail asking that nothing like that be done in the house until we were able to take the rest of our stuff. I also let him know we had every intention of cleaning before turning the property back over to him. Almost immediately after we returned for the rest of our stuff to discover the place had been painted and a good portion of our things had been painted and broken by whoever had been in the house. I called to find out what was going on and what they were going to do about our things having been broken and I never heard anything back. My fiance went back last night to get the very last few things from the house that wouldn't fit in his car on his last trip only to discover some of our things had been put out by the dumpsters, some of our things had been stolen and it looked as though the painters were planning on stealing the rest on their next trip back, as they'd moved everything from next to the front door into a bedroom on top of their tools and painting supplies. They also tore down a bunch of posters my fiance wasn't able to reach, so he left up until he could come back the next day with a ladder to get them down. On top of all of this, I'm eight month pregnant and this has caused me a huge deal of stress. I know the landlord is allowed to come in if he needs to and I'm fine with that, but I'm absolutely appalled by the fact he allowed someone into our house with our possessions and now we have over $300 worth of damaged and stolen items. I have to go to the office today to return the keys as this is the last day of our lease, but I don't know what to say to the property managers other than I expect to be compensated or I'm filing a police report and hiring an attorney.
Additional Details
To Mccleary, I don't receive HUD benefits and and under Florida Landlord/Tenant Law the landlord of any property has to have the tenants consent, not just give notice, to enter their property without the tenant being there. There's also nothing that allows them the right to take any of my personal possessions from the property or attempt to throw my things away. I just finished speaking with a real estate lawyer who told me as long as we didn't surrender the keys to the property they had no right to enter without our consent.

I do have photographs of the damage that was done to our things and the state the house was left in after it was painted. I also have a list of the stolen property and what everything was worth.

Thanks to everyone for your help!! :)

In future, always keep a camera with you and snap a picture of the place when you move into it. Anything that you need done, you will have several sets of pictures as proof of the move-in status. You would then send a certified letter to the landlord or management company about your requirements. As some people who were victims of Hurricane Katrina could tell you, always give 'trusted friends and/or relatives' copies of pictures, documents, etc. Sometimes, not often I hope, landlords can be very bold and 'stage' breakends. This would be their effort to extinguish your 'proof' of their wrongdoings. BEFORE you enter a room, building or vehicle, say quietly, "Peace Be To This House" - Luke 10:5. Those who are within those premises can't help but maintain a peaceful demeanor. You can take the credit for trusting in God above. HE will reward you for that trust. First order of business here is to get to a real estate lawyer, this very day. He may write a letter or show you how to go about addressing the landlord or management. This you should do BEFORE you turn in those keys. A small disposable camera wouldn't hurt to have 'on hand.' Also, keep the store receipt which verifies when you bought this camera. If you have to, xerox the receipt and 'blow up' the print so there will be no confusion as to the date thereon. There are pro bono lawyers out there that will help you if you have low or no income.YOU should NOT threaten anyone because 'forewarned is forearmed.' After all, I want for you to be stress free. I have had all kinds of 'crap' done to me. I am very SYMPATHIC with your dilemna. There are two ways to do things - the right way and the wrong way. I want for you to know that you are NOT alone. Remember this, What shall we then say to these things? If GOD be for us, WHO can be against us? - Romans 8:31 The Lord daily loadeth us with BENEFITS, even the GOD of our salvation. Selah. - Psalm 68:19 - Peace!!!

Call the police and report a theft.

Contact an attorney familiar with real estate law of your state. You may be due compensation for damages.

Most states follow HUD rental guidelines so they can receive HUD monies for subsidized low income housing. HUD guidelines allow a land lord to enter an apt. with 24 hrs notice to the tenant. You say you got that. Nothing you can do there.

HUD also requires a land lord attempt to rent an apt. as soon as possible if a tenant physically vacates the apt. (doesn't cook, sleep, etc. there) Which you say you did physically vacated the apt. There is nothing you can do here either.

The reason for renting as soon as possible is to return the unused portion of your rent to you.

So the only claim you have under HUD rules is the damage to your property, and the failure to store your property as required by law.

Take them to court! You still had possession of the unit since you still had the keys and you had paid through the end of the month AND your stuff was still in there. The landlord had absolutely no right to just go in and start painting and cleaning up. You were still in possession. Take photos, make a list of your damages, come up with a reasonable amount of money which you can demand and back up in court. You don't need an attorney, you can just go through small claims, but they may be more intimidated if you retain an attorney to write them a letter detailing all of the above and your intentions to pursue.

Well, even if you left early you were OBLIGED to pay the full rent for September.

Put all of this in writing to LL, and deliver it with the keys. Presumably you took some photos of damaged stuff, and trashed stuff. List the items stolen or broken or painted. Value them at "used" value or replacement cost, be consistent with everything. Tell LL that you refused permission to paint while your belongings were still there, that he had premises painted, and that your belongings were taken, damaged and trashed by his painters. Because of this, you are holding him responsible for the damages to your property. Also do walkthrough of apartment with him, and request written notification that it is satisfactory or of each item not satisfactory. This is to control whether anything is taken from deposit. Be polite and businesslike, express that you liked the property, thought you had a good relationship, but that you are very disappointed by the actions he took at end.

As a LL, I would have wanted to paint while you were leaving your stuff just sitting, but doing so without coming to an agreement or exercising any control over his painters has created liability in LL.

If you paid rent until the end of September, you were still a tenant in good standing. The landlord must have had a misunderstanding of the move-out date. Contact the landlord and see if a mutual agreement can be made financially to cover the loss of your items. I am sure that $300 out of his pocket is better than going to court. Use an attorney as a last resort, since it will set you back $500 if you lose. And... document everything.

This is a civil matter and as such not a police matter.
Police officers are not lawyers!
Notice of entry by landlord is not given by voice mail.
You must be given a notice in writing.
Try to work something out first.
Then your recourse is small claims.
You will have to proof your case and worth of property damaged.
The latter will not be easy without receipts and age of property.
Hiring an attorney is a waste of money. In small claims you cannot have one.
Police report on a civil matter, most will not do one.
Police are not allowed to practice law.
This is a cheap shot by your landlord.
Try to be nice and adult and fair when talking to him or her.

Make a list of everything that was damaged and the replacement value and then photograph everything. If your landlord is reluctant to pay you can file a claim against him in small claims court.

Go file a police report. I hope you have some good documentation along the way...ex: dates, pictures, whatever you can.

First... NEVER use voicemail or phone calls to give formal notice of any activity. ALWAYS create a paper trail.

The others are right. File a police report. Make a complete, comprehensive list of the items missing (include approximate amount you paid for each item) plus the damage done to the remainder. Take LOTS of photos.

I would let the landlord know there was a significant amount of damage done and the work the painters were doing prevented you from doing a proper cleaning. Tell them you are assessing your damages (which could be as much as $2000) and considering legal action. Ask them how they wish you to proceed. Follow up with a copy of the police report and a complete list of damages.

Quietly wait until November 1 and if you have not gotten satisfaction, fill a Small Claims Court action and sue for those listed damges plus the full security deposit (see if your state allows double/triple damages on unreturned deposit).

As a side note, people leave the most amazing things behind when they move, so don't think "the painters knew we wouldn't simply abandon such good stuff." I met a handyman at a flea market who told me he makes over half his income from selling abandoned things that property owners hire him to haul away after their tenants move out. I wouldn't blame the painters, as the landlord obviously led them to believe you were moved out. They discarded what they considered refuse and were "recycling" the rest.

I am sorry to hear about this, as renting is the best option for many, as apposed to home ownership and mortgages (or foreclosures on the other end.)

I think the police and attorney route is the way to go. They will be able to help you, not us. ;)

you can file a complaint with the better business bureau. they will try to resolve it and it will be on your landlords record for 3 years.

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