legal obligation to protect our attacker's belongings?

[anon42]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

My situation is as follows. In September of last year, my wife and I took in a young man from California who was suffering from bipolar depression (it turned out he also has Aspergers, borderline, and more) because he had been mostly abandoned by his family and we felt that he would die if we didn’t do something immediately. We tried to get him set up with social security benefits, etc. In December, after months of escalating emotional and physical abuse from him, he attacked my wife and locked her in his room, not allowing her to leave. The police were called and they were able to get my wife out safely and he was taken to a mental health hospital and then arrested for simple assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment, and harassment and is currently in jail awaiting arraignment. At this point, whenever he is released, he has nowhere to go, so would be homeless; because of this, we have nowhere to send his stuff to get it out of our house and ensure that he has no reason to come back here. We have moved since then, so he has no legal right to occupy our home.

My question is; what is our legal obligation regarding his belongings? He came with a computer and a few clothes. Everything else, we purchased for him, including a bike and more clothes. Can we discard the things that we bought? Can we discard all of it? Is there somewhere we can take it so that he will receive it and we will not be held accountable? Our best case scenario is that we get his stuff out of our house and we never have to see him again, what are the options to have those two conditions met? (this is only regarding his belongings and excludes the possibility of having to see him at a trial, etc)

Any help will be very appreciated, thank you.

 

[xylene]

get a storage locker, put the things in the locker, inform him at the correctional facility where the storage locker is by regular and rcertified mail and give him the lock combination
pay however many months you need to to satidfy the abandoned property laws.

You could easily prepay for 1 year and be more than covered. This would be like 75-to-275 dollards depending on the charges in your area. A small price to pay.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

My situation is as follows. In September of last year, my wife and I took in a young man from California who was suffering from bipolar depression (it turned out he also has Aspergers, borderline, and more) because he had been mostly abandoned by his family and we felt that he would die if we didn’t do something immediately. We tried to get him set up with social security benefits, etc. In December, after months of escalating emotional and physical abuse from him, he attacked my wife and locked her in his room, not allowing her to leave. The police were called and they were able to get my wife out safely and he was taken to a mental health hospital and then arrested for simple assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment, and harassment and is currently in jail awaiting arraignment. At this point, whenever he is released, he has nowhere to go, so would be homeless; because of this, we have nowhere to send his stuff to get it out of our house and ensure that he has no reason to come back here. We have moved since then, so he has no legal right to occupy our home.

My question is; what is our legal obligation regarding his belongings? He came with a computer and a few clothes. Everything else, we purchased for him, including a bike and more clothes. Can we discard the things that we bought? Can we discard all of it? Is there somewhere we can take it so that he will receive it and we will not be held accountable? Our best case scenario is that we get his stuff out of our house and we never have to see him again, what are the options to have those two conditions met? (this is only regarding his belongings and excludes the possibility of having to see him at a trial, etc)

Any help will be very appreciated, thank you.

Legally, there are ways to relieve yourself of any responsibility From a real-world angle, you might be better off finding a really cheap storage unit for his stuff and paying for a few months. That way, when he gets out, you can simply turn it all over to him (which should help reduce the amount of time he's "in your life".)

 

[Zigner]

get a storage locker, put the things in the locker, inform him at the correctional facility where the storage locker is by regular and rcertified mail and give him the lock combination
pay however many months you need to to satidfy the abandoned property laws.

You could easily prepay for 1 year and be more than covered. This would be like 75-to-275 dollards depending on the charges in your area. A small price to pay.

Yeah, that

 

[xylene]

Oh yeah, be sure you serve an eviction notice too, just in case so you can prove you told him he was gone.

 

[HRZ]

I'm uncomfortable with the idea of eviction notice absent more homework
I read post in context that OP has moved , if there was a tenant status it was as to prior location.
HE has zero rights as to new location and I would not even allow him in to use bathroom ,not one step inside
if he has storage rights as a tenant they probably run against new owner / master tenant of prior place.
You may not have properly terminated his rights at old place ..but I'd not stir that pot now.

you may be the Bailee of his stuff ..and owe it some minimal level of care ..but as a LL in Pa I had zero experience there ..you dig . ( even if i store his stuff in contractor bags in garage..he picks them up at sidewalk..not inside..and a have good photo
OR
PA allows LL to dispose of tenants junk in ten days ..., LT law sc 505.1 ...it's close but not exactly your fact pattern...you might follow it as close as possible...follow notice carefully ...as a minimum ..by mail...other notices require nail and mail or delivery to some adult at premises ..do what it directs as a minimum not what you think makes common sense ..you can do that extra . ....it's not relevant here..but if some rule says on outside of door..it goes there not inside ..ok do both .

 

[xylene]

I'm uncomfortable with the idea of eviction notice absent more homework
I read post in context that OP has moved , if there was a tenant status it was as to prior location.
HE has zero rights as to new location and I would not even allow him in to use bathroom ,not one step inside
if he has storage rights as a tenant they probably run against new owner / master tenant of prior place.
You may not have properly terminated his rights at old place ..but I'd not stir that pot now. .

I'm not in any implying the bad guy has rights to the new home, but to close the book on the OLD one, which I read the op as still owning but not residing there.

 

[HRZ]

THe official steps to close the book on a tenant in PA require ALL tHe steps thru DJ court , hearing and no appeal being taken OUCH.