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Father trusted a friend; house out of repair and family heirlooms destroyed/ sold off

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kasuperduper

New member
Hi,

I am really sad right now. And I feel bad for not checking on this family house myself sooner, but I am only in my 20s and have been in college living several states away from the family home.

My father trusted a friend of his to help fix up the home that has been vacant , and in exchange for this work , he let him live there rent-free .

Fast forward 4+ years later, my younger sister who lives closer goes to look at the property. The friend is sick and has to move in with people he knows and out of the home. Our family's antique furniture has been pulled out of the living room , sitting room and has been tossed downstairs where it has rotted from the moisture of the basement. This includes a rocking chair and a couch. There must have been a leak because several other items, including important family documents have water damage. The 'friend' also sold off a lot of our family items like dishes , lamps, knick-knacks, etc. There are even price tags still on the bottom of some of the items from the yard sale.

This was my aunt's house who died of cancer, and it was built by my grandmother's mother and father. It needs repairs and is outdated, but it held a lot of my aunt's items and my great grandparents. No one made sure to pack away the items into a storage unit to get them out of the house, because we assumed it would be safe in the house until we could do so at a later date, and decided what to do with the property. Now everything is ruined, and I feel a terrible guilt. It should not have been left to this friend of my father's for that long.

Also,, the kicker? The friend's items/ furniture is all neatly packed away in the living room , all of his stuff is perfectly fine. He sold our stuff....Also the fridge and the stove are both gone.

I am not sure how much my father kept up with his friend; and he never asked my younger sister to swing by and check on the property. I also think no formal agreement was signed between him and the friend. He assumed everything would be taken care of (and the furniture would be left where it was , of course, and looked after) . I just pray my grandmother does not start asking about what happened to x or she will be deeply saddened. This was her sister, her parents......She's in her 80s and has lost control of what happens in her life, this will be a horrible blow to her.

What kind of legal recourse could we take? This friend is very ill, but I am also very very angry at what happened to the house. I am very upset with my father. I am just glad that the family bible and a few photos, etc were salvaged.

Sincerely,

a sad sad sad person
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
What kind of legal recourse could we take?
Sorry, but there is no "we" in this. Your father owns the house. It's up to him to sue the friend if he wants to. Given the circumstances, it would probably be a waste of time as a judgment is likely to be uncollectible.

As for the friend's belongings, you ignored the question about the location so it is likely that your father will have to use a court eviction process and obtain a writ of possession before he can dispose of the friend's property.

There might be an exception to that. You can find out by looking for the state law on the following list:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/rpt/2006-R-0164.htm
 

HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
There might be an exception to that. You can find out by looking for the state law on the following list:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/rpt/2006-R-0164.htm

How do you know it's Connecticut?

If the house was going to be renovated (which can be a dirty/messy process) I would think that anything of value would have been removed prior.

Also, what some consider "antiques" are often not worth anything.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
It's not clear who owns the house but the owner needs to get off his or her duff and physically secure the vacant premises ...and if possible jawbone a complete mutual surrender of occupancy and contents otherwise owner may be stuck to provide free long term storage for another's stuff

Odds of recovery of family stuff approach zero...
 

kasuperduper

New member
I think I was just angry when I made the post and needed to vent. I know it's unlikely there is anything we can do , because the agreement that he would care for the house was all verbal, never written. I also know it's up to my father and the family (his sister, and my grandmother) to take any legal action.

The house is in South Carolina.

I think it was just assumed that everything would be kept where it was and taken care of. I guess my father did not expect his friend to throw everything in the basement, and it was really dumb for him to trust this friend, but it was out of my hands. I do think we should have gotten some items out of there first, but I will admit my father is careless and I really think he didn't want to bother with it. I also did not ask my dad how the property was doing or anything like that because I wrongly assumed he was taking care of it.

I wish that I had made an effort to visit the property myself and maybe I could have saved some items from being damaged, but I lived several states away.
 

kasuperduper

New member
I question the importance of these things to the OP and his/her family.
I think my father doesn't really care and just wants to be rid of the house, but my grandmother is in her 80s and trusted him to take care of the property. So it sucks.

Sorry if this was the wrong place to talk about this. If there was any legal action my father could take, I would suggest he sue the friend, but considering he didn't even keep an eye on the property, I doubt he will even do that.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I do understand that you may have personal, sentimental feelings, but the reality is that the property and items don't actually belong to you.
 

not2cleverRed

Obvious Observer
Wait... Is it technically your Dad's house or your grandmother's house?

Did your aunt just live in the house or did she actually own it? If your aunt owned it, did she have a will? If your aunt died intestate, wouldn't the house actually belong to your grandmother?

Not that determining who actually owns the house will change anything. The "friend" has no money. That's why the "friend" was living there in the first place. For all you know, Dad could have given the "friend" permission to have the yard sale.

I trust that no "remodeling" actually happened, and there was never a written contract involved.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
In spite of the lack of a "provable" agreement, the friend can still be sued for negligence and theft and could even be prosecuted for theft. A judgment might not be worth the paper it is printed on and the authorities might not want to get involved other than maybe just taking a report, though it appears that your father wouldn't care about that either.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
I also know it's up to my father and the family (his sister, and my grandmother) to take any legal action.
its up to the legal owner of the house, whoever that is. If the estate was never probated and the owner determined, it is up to the estate but since your father alllowed the friend to live in the home, if it hasn’t been through probate, he may be found complicit with the damages and found liable for them as well.

So before anybody can do anything ownership has to be defermined.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
In spite of the lack of a "provable" agreement, the friend can still be sued for negligence and theft and could even be prosecuted for theft. A judgment might not be worth the paper it is printed on and the authorities might not want to get involved other than maybe just taking a report, though it appears that your father wouldn't care about that either.
who would the complainant be?
I can’t be the complainant regarding damages to property that I don’t own because i cannot testify who the owner is or to any facts regarding what rights and responsibilities the person had in regard to the property.

It’s really hard to prove theft by a specific person when the premises are abandoned. For all anybody knows some unknown person stole the missing (and I’m not sure op stated what is actually known to be missing) property.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
who would the complainant be?
The owner of the property.

I can’t be the complainant regarding damages to property that I don’t own because i cannot testify who the owner is or to any facts regarding what rights and responsibilities the person had in regard to the property.
Correct.

It’s really hard to prove theft by a specific person when the premises are abandoned. For all anybody knows some unknown person stole the missing (and I’m not sure op stated what is actually known to be missing) property.
Also correct, which is why I noted that the police are unlikely to want to get involved.
 

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