Ex-Fiance's Ex-Wife
When my fiance and I broke up, I allowed him to borrow all of my furniture valued at $7,850. I moved out of his apt. on Oct 2003. At the time of my departure we made a verbal agreement (later reaffirmed in writing) that he would be permitted to borrow my furniture at no cost until he no longer needed to borrow them and until my financial situation would permit me to return for them.
In March or April 2004, my ex moved into his ex-wife's house and brought all of my furniture and placed them in storage in her garage. She subsequently kicked him out on Aug 1 2004 and would not let him onto her premises to retrieve my belongings. She then sold most of my stuff and kept my most cherished items--a $3500 entertainment center and matching $500 coffee table--in her living room.
When I discovered what had happened in Oct 2004 I called her to make arrangements to pick up my stuff, she said that she would not be permitting me into her house to get the remainder of my furniture.
I followed up with a letter sent via certified mail on Feb 1 informing her that I would be on her premises on April 17, 2005, at 5PM in order to recover the remainder of my belongings and to present her with a bill for any property that was missing, and that I would give her 10 days from the date of this letter to respond with her intent. She called me on Feb 3 after receiving my letter and said that she would be moving out on Feb 19 and that she would be leaving my furniture on the curbside.
I therefore followed up with another letter on Feb 3 informing her that I would be at her curbside in order to recover the remainder of my belongings on Feb 19 at 10am. In response she called me back on Feb 5 and said that she would be taking the remainder of my furniture outside on the curbside that evening for the trash collectors to pick up on Monday. On Feb 5 I sent her a letter asking if this was her final decision so that I could go ahead and file civil suit for the loss of my property. In response on Feb 10, she called me and said that she would not hand over the furniture until I paid a bill that she was sending me via certified mail for storage fees.
I filed electronically on Feb 12 for monetary compensation for the loss of my property. The verbal agreement with her ex-husband has been reaffirmed in writing. However, the breach of contract was committed by her ex-husband, not by her, since I did not have a contract with her. So my questions are (limiting to three): 1. Can I still sue her for the loss of my property even though the contract was with her ex? 2. If she moves out without giving me her forwarding address, can I still sue her in her currently residing county? and 3. What other snags may I anticipate in court?
Thank you.
barbiplease
