previous tenants adandoned belongings

[akh1075]

I am a tenant in TX and have a unusual situation - the previous tenants left several large items (lawn mower, weed eater, trampoline, porch swing) when they moved hoping I would purchase them. We had discussed a price and payment arrangements, but I ultimately decided to pass on the sale 2 weeks after I moved in. For the first two weeks, she would call me daily about the details of our arrangement, but when I opted out of the deal, the calls stopped and their things sat here for a month before my landlord, who had been in contact with them, came by to retrieve the yard equipment to try to sell for them. The swing and the trampoline are still in my garage making it impossible to for me to use the space for my own purposes. The previous tenants do not respond to requests for a mailing address, to phone calls or text msgs. I have now decided to sell the items instead of storing them for another 2 months. when I have sold the items, I will call them again to give them the opportunity to retrieve part of the profit - I intent to keep some of it because I am having to store their things and go thru the trouble of listing the posings, showing the items, etc.

Am I at risk of getting myself into trouble?

 

[JETX]

Am I at risk of getting myself into trouble?

Hmmm.... lets see if you can answer your own question.
You're wanting to sell something that is NOT yours.. then pocket some of the money that is not yours. Is that correct??
If so, does it sound like any of that could get you in trouble?? (Hint, the answer is YES!).

Turn over ALL the property to the landlord... and get a written receipt.

 

[akh1075]

They want me to buy these things . . . but i don't want or need them. I am storing these things for free and am unable to use my garage because of their presence yet no one has asked me if I approve, won't return my calls when I ask them to retrieve this stuff and will untimately leave them for an indefinite time period if I don't do something. Don't patronize me, I am not an idiot nor am I a bad guy. I am being taken advantage of without any way to end the situation. What is the difference in me buying them directly from them and me selling them and giving them money? Put things in perspective here . . . do you know for a fact that I would be at risk based on an law education or did you just want to make me look stupid?

 

[JETX]

do you know for a fact that I would be at risk based on an law education or did you just want to make me look stupid?

Actually, it is pretty easy to do both.
Look up 'conversion of property'. As for the stupid, look at your post.

Texas Penal Code:
§ 31.02. CONSOLIDATION OF THEFT OFFENSES.
Theft as defined in Section 31.03 constitutes a single offense superseding the separate offenses previously known as theft, theft by false pretext, conversion by a bailee, theft from the person, shoplifting, acquisition of property by threat, swindling, swindling by worthless check, embezzlement, extortion, receiving or concealing embezzled property, and receiving or concealing stolen property.

§ 31.03. THEFT.
(a) A person commits an offense if he unlawfully appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of property.
(b) Appropriation of property is unlawful if:
(1) it is without the owner's effective consent;
(2) the property is stolen and the actor appropriates the property knowing it was stolen by another; or
(3) property in the custody of any law enforcement agency was explicitly represented by any law enforcement agent to the actor as being stolen and the actor appropriates the property believing it was stolen by another.

As for the stupid, look at your post. It is NOT your property to sell or dispose.

 

[IrishNodak]

I am storing these things for free and am unable to use my garage because of their presence yet no one has asked me if I approve, won't return my calls when I ask them to retrieve this stuff and will untimately leave them for an indefinite time period if I don't do something.

It isn't YOUR garage. It's the LL. Your issue is with the LL. Tell him/her you want the USE of the garage you are paying for or a reduction in your rent. Then he/she can make the decision to remove the items and what to do. It's his responsibility to take care of the abandoned belongings of the previous tenants. Not yours. He has to do it legally.

 

[akh1075]

True, it isn't my garage, technically. I guess I should have given all of the details. My landlord is the most recent of those involved that has repeatedly said he would come to remove them. It has been three weeks of asking him what he plans to do with no action. Now what?

JetX, do you actually stop to think before you write or are you just scrawling freely without remembering we are adults? I wouldn't ask questions if I knew the answers or where to go to find them. "No stupid questions, just stupid answers," ever hear that one? I know little about legal issues and thankfully have had little experience with needing legal advice. If you can't be helpful, just refrain from saying anything. I think aol chat rooms thrive on the type of childish banter you apparently find entertaining. You may be appreciated there.

Does the FACT that they expected me to deliver money for these items, which is why they were here to begin with, have any weight? I could feasibly tell them I would pay for them, still sell them to someone else and everyone gets what they want. It is completely logical and I hardly think it makes me a theif.

 

[IrishNodak]

True, it isn't my garage, technically. I guess I should have given all of the details. My landlord is the most recent of those involved that has repeatedly said he would come to remove them. It has been three weeks of asking him what he plans to do with no action. Now what?

Now send your LL a certified letter with return receipt asking him to remove the items from the garage. Tell him that you are paying for use of the garage and aren't receiving full use. Ask him to remove the items or lower the rent. He doesn't have to do anything. But it's worth a shot. What does your lease say about the use of the garage?

Does the FACT that they expected me to deliver money for these items, which is why they were here to begin with, have any weight? I could feasibly tell them I would pay for them, still sell them to someone else and everyone gets what they want. It is completely logical and I hardly think it makes me a theif.

Yes, you could pay for them and then sell them IF you do that first. Problem is they aren't responding to you. How would you pay them and have proof? If you sell the items and then they come looking for them they would be able to sue you for them. You only have a verbal agreement and you can bet if you don't give them as much as they want or their items they will never admit they said you could buy them. It's all about protecting yourself legally as well.

 

[justalayman]

True, it isn't my garage, technically.

If it is part of the lease, it is for all practical purposes your garage.

JetX, do you actually stop to think before you write or are you just scrawling freely without remembering we are adults? I wouldn't ask questions if I knew the answers or where to go to find them. "No stupid questions, just stupid answers," ever hear that one? I know little about legal issues and thankfully have had little experience with needing legal advice. If you can't be helpful, just refrain from saying anything. I think aol chat rooms thrive on the type of childish banter you apparently find entertaining. You may be appreciated there.

Actually JETX is appreciated right here where he gives advice for free instead of charging his usaul hourly fee as an attorney since he graduated law school and becam a member of the bar. If you had any clue you would understand he gave you very correct advice. He even cited germane statutes for you. What else do you need to show you you are wrong?

Does the FACT that they expected me to deliver money for these items, which is why they were here to begin with, have any weight?

Gee, it sounds like you actually made a contract to purchase the items. I wonder if the prior owners (you would be the new/current owner) of the items could sue YOU for the money you owe them. You see, you agreed to buy them, arranged a menas of payment so they left YOUR items. If the prior owners didn't sell them to you, they would have taken other actions, I am sure, with the property. Now since you reneged on your contract and didn't pay as you had agreed, the property is not legally yours and you want to sell their property and keep some of the money on top of it all. Brilliant.

I could feasibly tell them I would pay for them,

You already said you would pay them and failed that. Since you didn't, you would be committing a crime such as JETX listed above.

It is completely logical and I hardly think it makes me a theif.

Oh how wrong you are. It does make you a thief. It does make some convoluted logic but without agreement of the true owners, it does make you a thief.

How's this for a solution. Pay what you agreed to pay and then re-sell the items or burn them or whatever you want since they will then legally be yours.

or maybe a lolution the true owners might agree to such as; ask them if you could sell the items for whatever you agreed to pay and then forward all the money to them. If you do not recieve the amount you agreed to from the sale, you could chip in the rest so you were not in breach of your original or the newly negotiated contract.

Everybody that deserves to be happy is happy. You have to remember, you actually caused this entire situation, nobody else.

 

[justalayman]

It isn't YOUR garage. It's the LL. Your issue is with the LL. Tell him/her you want the USE of the garage you are paying for or a reduction in your rent. Then he/she can make the decision to remove the items and what to do. It's his responsibility to take care of the abandoned belongings of the previous tenants. Not yours. He has to do it legally.

Your just as wrong as akh1075. If the lease includes the garage, it is akh's garage.

The LL actually was not part of the original deal akh had with the prior tenants. As far as the items are concerned, the LL can deal with them as the current tenants property and tell them to kiss the sky. Rememer, akh made a deal with the prior tenant to purchase the stuff. That actually takes the LL out of the picture and makes the property not abandoned but property of the current tenant as far as the LL is concerned. If I was the LL, I would look at this as the current tenant wants me to get rid of some of their property and charge them accordingly. The current tenant would still have to deal with the prior tenant concerning payment for the items. Not part of the LL's deal or concern.