Cousin won't take her stuff & will sue if we toss

Oregon

My wifes cousine was having a tough time and moved a lot of stuff to our place and now won't take it back.

She is not on the lease and has no rights to our property.

There is nothing in writting stating that we will hold on to it at all.

I have not seen her for a month, so I can not give written notice and I do not know where to send it.

She replied to emails and txt messages where I stated that it had to be gone within 4 days (which ended today). Is that enough time? Does it have to be 30 days?

She is threatening to sue us (small claims court) if we put it out back or dispose of it.

1 - Can I get rid of her stuff since she acknowledged the email advising of the four days notice?
2 - Can she sue me for loss of property?
3 - Do I have to reply to any calls she makes to us? She is trying to say that bcuz we didn't answer the phone that she didn't know if we were there and therefore didn't have to pick it up.

Am I forced to be a free storage facility? I am broke and can't afford a lawyer consultation ($50 - $100).

I’ve never resorted to this before, but I think that a posting made a few months ago may answer a number of your questions without the need to re-state it. You allowed her to leave property.

“You originally created a voluntary bailment, which may now have become constructive and involuntary, depending on the laws of your state. A constructive bailment occurs when circumstances create an obligation for the bailee to protect the goods. With a constructive bailment, the bailment is implied by law. In the case of – e.g. [a cousin] - abandoning property, an involuntary bailment might be created. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, the bailee may have a duty to care for the property and return it to the abandoning bailor.

If a bailment agreement is set for a fixed term and the bailor fails to claim the property at the end of the term, she may be deemed to have abandoned the property. Alternatively, the voluntary bailment may be converted into an involuntary bailment.

In all bailment situations, the bailee has a minimum duty of care to ensure the safety of the property. If the bailee breaches or fails to uphold that duty, he can be legally liable for damages. If the bailment is for the benefit of only the bailor, then the bailee owes only a duty of slight care, but the duty still exists.

A bailor is entitled to recover damages for lost or damaged property if she can show that the bailee failed to exercise the required degree of care and proximately caused damage or loss of the property. If you are in contact with this person, it would be advisable to give her notice that you intend to treat the property as abandoned after X days.

I would also recommend checking with the authorities. In many states, the protocol for handling found or abandoned property is to turn it over to the authorities. If it is unclaimed after Y days, you may be able to claim it yourself or it may be auctioned. If the authorities will accept it, common sense should tell you this is a wiser disposition (make it somebody else’s problem). If the authorities won’t accept it, it is also more probable that they can inform you of your rights and obligations.

Simply waiting what you consider a reasonable time and then discarding it may have you back here later asking what to do about the Small Claims case that has been filed against you.”

I would question whether 4 days is reasonable notice, but that’s arbitrary and subjective. Personally, I’d opt for something like 2 weeks after I knew that notice was or should have been received, but that’s arbitrary and subjective too. I think it’s also a bit more adequate to shield you. The point is that, after allowing her to leave her property, you go at some risk if you decide to just toss it because you’ve had enough. It doesn’t follow from that that you’re forever constrained to be “free storage”. Just take proper advance precautions, so that she can’t fix her “hard times” by suing you.

More information about situation

I really appreciate the reply! Please let me know if these extra details help me out. i will contact local authorities to see if they will assume ownership for the time being as you mentioned.

We agreed to hold her stuff (kids stuff), because we were taking care of her children for a couple weeks. She has taken her kids, but left their beds, toys, and boxes of belongings.

We agreed to watch kids and hold kids stuff as a bundle package.

Since she took the kids, we feel she should take the belongings too. So basically, the agreement was to care for goods and kids as a bindle. She took half the bundle (kids) esentially opting out of the original agreement.

Does this make a difference?

Put the things in a storage unit.

Tell her EXACTLY where they are. Keep telling her. Do nothing that would be construed as denying her access.

Keep written records. Of everything.

I would also tell her you will start charging storage fees .

If you know her last known address within the last year, send a letter ( keep a copy ) to that address , under your return address write address confirmation requested .

If it doesn't come back as undelivered , the courts may accept that it was delivered ( forwarded ) .

Writ in the letter , she has 30 days to retrieve her belongings . After that you will consider them abandoned and dispose of them as per law.

Find out what that law is and follow it .

If you feel she has established a regular residency somewhere else and may possibly be working and is not deliberately hiding from the law, you can pay a private investigator about a $100 to trace her whereabouts. After you have found a place to store her items, you can pay about $50-$75 to place a small classified ad legal notice (in the newspaper of her last known address) that mentions where the items are stored and that she has a certain amount of time, like 30-60 days, to claim them and that is considered sufficient public notice. If she doesn't claim the items within the specified time, then you or the storage unit is allowed to dispose of them in a sale or trash them.