Can he just throw it away?

[Zenkuru]

I live in Washington state and am currently renting a room in my grandmother's house. I needed to rearrange the stuff in my room so I completely cleaned everything and rearranged well my grandmother has a spare bedroom so I decided to store somethings for a short time in their till I found a place I could put them, their were 3 speaker boxes and a basket of clothes. I rearranged my room on a Thursday and on Saturday my uncle who stays at the house when ever he wants and uses the closet in the spare bedroom. Decided that my belonging were in his way and decided to throw them out now he said he tried to tell us on Saturday that he was going to throw the stuff out if we didn't move it. He says he knocked on the door and when we didn't answer he decided to tell my cousin who was spending the weekend to tell us that if we didn't move are stuff it would get thrown away. Well I never heard him knock on the door and my cousin never told me anything so now all my stuff that was in the spare bedroom was taken to the dump. We tried asking him to pay to replace the items but he refuses and says that we should pay him for the dump fees. I want to know if he has the right to do so and is there anything that can be done he had other methods of contacting me he had my phone number and he could have always written a note.

 

[quincy]

I live in Washington state and am currently renting a room in my grandmother's house. I needed to rearrange the stuff in my room so I completely cleaned everything and rearranged well my grandmother has a spare bedroom so I decided to store somethings for a short time in their till I found a place I could put them, their were 3 speaker boxes and a basket of clothes. I rearranged my room on a Thursday and on Saturday my uncle who stays at the house when ever he wants and uses the closet in the spare bedroom. Decided that my belonging were in his way and decided to throw them out now he said he tried to tell us on Saturday that he was going to throw the stuff out if we didn't move it. He says he knocked on the door and when we didn't answer he decided to tell my cousin who was spending the weekend to tell us that if we didn't move are stuff it would get thrown away. Well I never heard him knock on the door and my cousin never told me anything so now all my stuff that was in the spare bedroom was taken to the dump. We tried asking him to pay to replace the items but he refuses and says that we should pay him for the dump fees. I want to know if he has the right to do so and is there anything that can be done he had other methods of contacting me he had my phone number and he could have always written a note.

Did your grandmother tell you that you could store stuff in the spare room? Did your grandmother tell your uncle he could toss out whatever he found in the spare room?

 

[Zenkuru]

Did your grandmother tell you that you could store stuff in the spare room? Did your grandmother tell your uncle he could toss out whatever he found in the spare room?

Yes she said as long as it didn't stay in there long but she didn't give him permission to throw things away. A lot of things are kept in that room.

 

[quincy]

Yes she said as long as it didn't stay in there long but she didn't give him permission to throw it away

Okay. If you only stored the items in the room for two days before your uncle tossed them, then I suggest you make a list of all that you had stored in the room that he took to the dump. Provide what proof you can of their estimated value (photographs of the items if you have them, like-items currently being sold online) and total the cost. Present it to your uncle for payment.

You are only due the used value of the items, not the cost to replace them new. If the value is not all that high, it may not be worthwhile for you to take your uncle to court if he refuses to pay - but that is an option to consider. It will sure make living in the same house together uncomfortable for both of you, though.

 

[Zenkuru]

Okay. If you only stored the items in the room for two days before your uncle tossed them, then I suggest you make a list of all that you had stored in the room that he took to the dump. Provide what proof you can of their estimated value (photographs of the items if you have them, like-items currently being sold online) and total the cost. Present it to your uncle for payment.

You are only due the used value of the items, not the cost to replace them new. If the value is not all that high, it may not be worthwhile for you to take your uncle to court if he refuses to pay - but that is an option to consider. It will sure make living in the same house together uncomfortable for both of you, though.

Thank you very much, and believe me it's already uncomfortable he wants to kick me out of the house.

 

[quincy]

Thank you very much, and believe me it's already uncomfortable he wants to kick me out of the house.

Family relationships can be difficult at times, can't they? I hope your uncle realizes that he should not have tossed out your items and will not object too strongly to reimbursing you.

On the chance this matter cannot be resolved amicably, and if you feel you want to file a small claims action, here is a link to Washington Courts, Self-Help Resources and Links, where you can find information you need to file a suit: http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.resources

Good luck, Zenkuru.