I moved out and roomates gave my property away

[pniblo]

What is the name of your state?
California


I had to move out of my apartment which I had lived with three other roomates. We were all renting an apartment, in the middle of our lease something happened. Things didnt't work out and I moved out on January 5th, I had already signed a document from the landlord stating I was off the lease as of January 5th. I left a couch set and barbeque at the apartment and agreed with one of the roomates that I would pick up the furniture at the end of this school semester. I don't have a contract like an idiot and the worst thing happened. According to the roomates: They gave the couch set to goodwill and my roomate gave the barbeque to the friend. The roomate now completely denies saying that I was coming up there to get everything at the end of the semester. Could I do anything about this? Anyone with any advice would be greatly appreciated during this stressful time. Thanks. Also I had a security and pet deposit there I would I go about getting that back? What sucks even more was I helped pay my full month rent even though I didn't have to because I was trying to be a good person. Thanks

 

[pniblo]

Anybody please?

 

[Cvillecpm]

You agreed to leave and so should your belongings!! Your BAD....move on

 

[xylene]

Personally I think you dodged so many bullets you should forget about the couch and barbecue.

I would question if push came to shove, how you even got off the lease?

The security deposit is a question you need to have clarity on when you got off the lease too, so ask your landlord.

 

[CameronNewport]

You could try to sue them in small claims. In my opinion, even if you didn't have an agreement with them to hold onto your stuff, 2 months is not enough time for them to reasonably assume you had abandoned your things. Was it possible for them to contact you, and if so, did they try? If they could have, but didn't contact you before getting rid of your stuff, that is going to work against them as well.

 

[applecruncher]

You’re lucky they aren’t suing you for bailing out on the lease, and you want the security deposit back? If you truly wanted to be a good person you would have taken ALL your things instead of using your former roommates as a free storage unit.

No written agreement re: the things you left – just your word against the other person. Move on.

 

[xylene]

You should sue them in small claims. In my opinion, even if you didn't have an agreement with them to hold onto your stuff, 2 months is not enough time for them to reasonably assume you had abandoned your things. Was it possible for them to contact you, and if so, did they try? If they could have, but didn't contact you before getting rid of your stuff, that is going to work against them as well.

There was no assumptions of abandonment made, as the items were not abandoned. The tenant had vacated the apartment and had given explicit permission for the remaining roommates to take possession of the items. So the abandonment case is out.

His verbal agreement that he would pick the items up could be seen the way he wishes... as a bailment

OR as what it was to the roommates... an inducement to agree to accept his failure to remove his debris and take possession of the items.

If this move out tenant had failed to haul the items away then the roommates would have a similar and similarly evidence free case for the cost of haulage.

 

[CameronNewport]

There was no assumptions of abandonment made, as the items were not abandoned. The tenant had vacated the apartment and had given explicit permission for the remaining roommates to take possession of the items. So the abandonment case is out.

His verbal agreement that he would pick the items up could be seen the way he wishes... as a bailment

OR as what it was to the roommates... an inducement to agree to accept his failure to remove his debris and take possession of the items.

If this move out tenant had failed to haul the items away then the roommates would have a similar and similarly evidence free case for the cost of haulage.

Say you're the judge in this case and are presented with the two arguments. If it's just one person's word against the others, are you going to believe that this kid just gave them his couch (which they didn't even want and gave to goodwill) and grill out of the goodness of his heart, or are you going to think the ex-roommates might have been a bit ticked and thought they'd do what they want with the stuff left behind?

Unless there are other facts not shared, I doubt many judges would believe your gift theory.

 

[xylene]

Unless there are other facts not shared, I doubt many judges would believe your gift theory.

I'm only relying on what the poster states.

I left a couch set and barbeque at the apartment and agreed with one of the roomates that I would pick up the furniture at the end of this school semester.

Here's how the poster want us to see this.

I was allowing the former roommates to use the items as a rent for their storage with a bailment for care and preservation.

Here is the roomates defense.

We didn't want that junk, we only agreed to let him dump it here after he swore he would take it away so we would not have to deal with the expense of it when we moved. It was ours and we got rid of it early.

Since there is no written agreement, each argument makes sense. That's a wash.

 

[CameronNewport]

We didn't want that junk, we only agreed to let him dump it here after he swore he would take it away so we would not have to deal with the expense of it when we moved. It was ours and we got rid of it early.

Let me make sure I understand that theory: The ex-roommates agreed to store the OP's trash if the OP agreed to remove the trash before the ex-roommates moved out. The ex-roommates then owned the trash.

Is the above correct? The trash consisted of a presumably usable couch and working grill (the OP can fill us in on the condition, but Goodwill doesn't take unusable furniture, and friends rarely take broken grills). I wonder why the OP would trash usable items. Sure, it happens, but I'd like to hear an explanation. Let's give the ex-roommates some leeway and assume they were unusable. I wonder why the OP would want back unusable items. That happens as well, but I'd still like to hear an explanation. Last, I'm curious why the OP would need to eventually remove the items if he no longer owned them. That doesn't make sense, but the ex-roommates can leave that part out of their story.

In any case, have you ever heard of Ockham's razor? Loosely, it's that the simplest explanation is the most likely. Did I mention that judges generally use common sense, particularly when required to choose between two possible explanations?

Several years ago I saw a case that somehow seems relevant here. A guy was suing his ex-girlfriend for roughly $2000 that he claimed he loaned her. The ex-girlfriend claimed it was a gift. There was nothing in writing so it was his word against hers. A wash? Not quite. The judge asked "how long had you two been dating?" They agreed that it was about 3 months. Without hesitation the judge said "college kids don't give $2000 gifts to their girlfriends of 3 months," and he ruled in the guy's favor.

Anyway, to get back on topic, suing the ex-roommates is a reasonable option. It's not 100%, but the OP certainly has a decent chance of succeeding.

 

[MIRAKALES]

The LL agreed to terminate your tenancy and remove you from the lease. If what you stated is accurate, the security deposit should be returned by the LL. The pet deposit rarely, if ever, is refunded. The fact that the roommate situation “did not work out” (your words) would be reason enough to move completely and totally ALL of your belongings at move-out. The request to store possessions until the end of semester (four months) is not reasonable.
If you no longer pay rent, then you no longer are entitled to occupy space.

 

[pniblo]

They were leather still in decent condition and the barbeque was new. I told the one roomate I would leave them there so they could use them until the end of the semester.

 

[applecruncher]

They were leather still in decent condition and the barbeque was new. I told the one roomate I would leave them there so they could use them until the end of the semester.

In your original post you referenced something happening which led to things not working out which led to you moving out. I’m not asking what happened, because it doesn’t matter, and we don’t really need to know the details. My point is that you weren’t happy there, so you moved out. The chapter should have closed then.

Now you say that you left those 2 items “so they could use them”. Is that supposed to mean that you’re a good person? Most likely you either couldn’t move the things or didn’t have a place to put them, so the "nice person" altruism doesn’t fly. You used them as a storage facility, and if the items were so great I doubt they would have thrown them out. When you moved you should have taken ALL your possessions. Regardless of what you said to the other roommate about leaving the items and picking them up later, you were/are responsible for your own things. "later" is a few hours or a couple of days, not 2 months.

As someone else said, you no longer pay rent, so you and/or your possessions are not entitled to occupy the space. Period.

 

[pniblo]

In your original post you referenced something happening which led to things not working out which led to you moving out. I’m not asking what happened, because it doesn’t matter, and we don’t really need to know the details. My point is that you weren’t happy there, so you moved out. The chapter should have closed then.

Now you say that you left those 2 items “so they could use them”. Is that supposed to mean that you’re a good person? Most likely you either couldn’t move the things or didn’t have a place to put them, so the "nice person" altruism doesn’t fly. You used them as a storage facility, and if the items were so great I doubt they would have thrown them out. When you moved you should have taken ALL your possessions. Regardless of what you said to the other roommate about leaving the items and picking them up later, you were/are responsible for your own things. "later" is a few hours or a couple of days, not 2 months.

As someone else said, you no longer pay rent, so you and/or your possessions are not entitled to occupy the space. Period.

They did it to get back at me, I was being a good person if I helped pay a full month rent if I wasn't there. I didn't use it as a storage facility nor did they bother calling me to pick up

 

[applecruncher]

Like I said, the good person thing doesn't fly. Regardless of why they did "it", you are responsible for your possessions. They don't have to call you to tell you anything. Go ahead and sue them since you feel you were done wrong. Good luck with that.