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Misplaced property question

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venri

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma

Is there a minimum amount of time a private business would be required to hold misplaced property before disposing of it?

I inadvertently left a nylon bag of (clean) clothes (shoes, jeans, 2 shirts) in a bag at an auto repair shop, and did not return for approximately 10 days. The very day I returned, they had thrown them in the garbage and said garbage had been picked up not 15 minutes prior.

When I confronted the proprietor he stated he had looked for identification, but finding none had kept it a reasonable amount of time, and then disposed of the items. Obviously there is a disagreement on what constitutes a proper amount of time to hold personal property between he and I. The replacement value of the goods would be approximately $200.

This would obviously be small claims, and I was hoping for at least an apology, but got nothing but derision for showing up to complain (I had been told about the disposal by a relative I asked to get the items.)

Thanks in advance
 


BL

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma

Is there a minimum amount of time a private business would be required to hold misplaced property before disposing of it?

I inadvertently left a nylon bag of (clean) clothes (shoes, jeans, 2 shirts) in a bag at an auto repair shop, and did not return for approximately 10 days. The very day I returned, they had thrown them in the garbage and said garbage had been picked up not 15 minutes prior.

When I confronted the proprietor he stated he had looked for identification, but finding none had kept it a reasonable amount of time, and then disposed of the items. Obviously there is a disagreement on what constitutes a proper amount of time to hold personal property between he and I. The replacement value of the goods would be approximately $200.

This would obviously be small claims, and I was hoping for at least an apology, but got nothing but derision for showing up to complain (I had been told about the disposal by a relative I asked to get the items.)

Thanks in advance
What is this repair shop's connection to you ?

Why were your bag of cloths left there ?

Why did you send a relative to try to retrieve them ?

You have no case by your post .

The shop had no agreement with you to watch over your misplaced cloths , and no duty to either .
 

venri

Junior Member
What is this repair shop's connection to you ?

Why were your bag of cloths left there ?

Why did you send a relative to try to retrieve them ?

You have no case by your post .

The shop had no agreement with you to watch over your misplaced cloths , and no duty to either .
My mother was in the hospital, and I was sent to pick up her car and pay for it. My wife dropped me off (along with my change of clothes for the evening) to pay the shop and drive the car back to her house. When I did so, I inadvertently left the bag of clothes there.

It was the weekend before I knew that was where the clothes were, I had made an assumption that they were in her car at my mothers house. Circumstances are such that I did not place any call to the shop the following week, but rather when my mother was released from the hospital I asked her and my brother to pick up the clothes. 10 days had elapsed.

I certainly have some ownership of the issue, which is why I am just asking if there is a legal precedent for how long they should hold "lost & found" items. 10 days seems very short to me.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Ten days was very reasonable. Just chalk it up to forgetfulness on your part and stop trying to hold the business responsible. Did you even check to see if they had a sign posted on the wall that states they are not responsible for unclaimed items? It happens all the time and you would not win a small claims suit.
 

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