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Tenant left things behind

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J

JLW

Guest
I live in New York State. I had a tenant move out on Aug 30. He had left a fridge behind that his father could not take at the time they left. I said it was fine for a few days until they could come and get it. It is now Nov 13 and they just called about it. I was told that posession is 9/10ths of the law. Do I have any rights to this fridge now? It was an inconvenience to have it. If I am obligated to return it, can I charge a storage fee and how much?
 


W

WIlson

Guest
The statement that possession is 9/10ths of the law is nothing legal, just a practical observation. See, if you refuse to allow him to get it back, he'd have 2 legal choices -- first to sue you for its value (and many people won't bother) and second to forget it.

He also has a bunch of illegal options, such as to break in and take it, start harrassing you, tell everyone you are a thief, say you didn't let him in when he could pick it up, etc.

You have similar options. You could say you will charge him storage, or deem it abandoned, or you'll tell every future landlord who calls for references he was a bad tenant who can't be believed.

In short how much hassle can you tolerate and for what? If leaving it there was helpful, there were no costs to you such as electricity to run itsay al good things come to an end. If he was a real SOB, consider taking a harder line. Life is too short and this is a no win situation.
 
J

JLW

Guest
How and under what circumstances can I deem the fridge abandoned? This person has not even contacted me yet. He called the new tenants who be both are friends with, they gave him my number (which by the way he did already have), and still nothing.
 

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