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responsibility for personal property

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figgymint

Junior Member
FLORIDA

I have someone's personal property in my home. I agreed to house it for her for one month.

That one month period ended two weeks ago, and there has been very little communication and absolutely no action taken on her part to remove any of it. There was no written contract, and no money was exchanged. It is a substantial amount of stuff. Holding her property for her has caused me the loss of use of about 1/3 my home. Am I responsible for her property indefinetly, or is there a time limit? I haven't been able to find any information on my responsibilties.

Thank you
 


SHORTY LONG

Senior Member
Suggest you make contact with friend, and express your unhappiness, and respectfully be stern that you need your space back.
Allow a little more time if she is good friend; and go from there.
 
FLORIDA

I have someone's personal property in my home. I agreed to house it for her for one month.

That one month period ended two weeks ago, and there has been very little communication and absolutely no action taken on her part to remove any of it. There was no written contract, and no money was exchanged. It is a substantial amount of stuff. Holding her property for her has caused me the loss of use of about 1/3 my home. Am I responsible for her property indefinetly, or is there a time limit? I haven't been able to find any information on my responsibilties.

Thank you
make a final attempt to contact this person. since there is no contract and nothing was exchanged for storing this items other than being nice, i would think that it would be your right to dispose of it...just make a reasonable attempt first and then discard them. if they come back...they will just be out of luck. their fault for not staying in touch and taking advantage of you in expecting that you house them without knowledge of how much longer.
 

dcatz

Senior Member
just make a reasonable attempt first and then discard them.
Before you consider doing that, you may want to check your state statutes regarding abandoned property.

You said, “I agreed to hold it for her for one month”. You also said, “There has been very little communication.” Not “no communication”, “very little”.

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 girlfriend - 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
 

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