Recovering property from landlord?

[justalayman]

HRZ, I appreciate your help and you actually sticking to the topic at hand.

The landlord did give ONE correct notice, about the property, asserting that it was worth more than $1,000 and would be sold if not retrieved in the specified time, which I ignored.

after that it goes to the disposal stage.

I ignored this notice because:

it doesn’t matter. Your time limit is based in law. Either you retrieved the property or it becomes abandoned and the LL can dispose of it as the law allows.

1. At this time the landlord was threatening me and harassing me, I had to call the police 5 different times. I did not want to go back to the premises, and this is documented.

it doesn’t matter. You had options. You failed to avail yourself of them.

2. I am disabled and the property in question is large and heavy, it was not possible to arrange for it to be moved in the limited time I was given nor could I move it myself.

it doesn’t matter. Your time limits are based in law.

3. The landlord purposely tried to hurry my move to unreasonable levels, I strongly suspect so that he could keep my stuff illegally.

no idea what that means. You were escorted out by a sheriff. After that the law prescribes the time frame for subsequent actions

4. I was told I had at least one year to recover the property or the money the property turned into after I left the property.

by whom? The law does not allow you one year. It’s a couple weeks. After that the law regarding disposal kicks in. You actually have about 3 years to collect the money. The landlord is obligated to turn it over to the county treasurer of he cannot locate the tenant after performing due diligence. The county holds it for 3 years and then it goes into the general fund of the county.

5. I moved to a different state making it nearly impossible to collect truckloads of items from 3,0000 miles away.

that’s your problem, not the landlord’s. The law prescribes the time frame for the actions.

6. I knowingly gave up any rights to the actual property however still should hold the right to it's fair value even if I was just lazy and it hasn't been a year.

thats the only one that applies. If the landlord sold the property he should have turned the money over to the government by now. Have you even considered contacting them?

 

[Vance357]

So we're both basically saying the same thing. I don't care if it's the "stuff" or the money that came from it. It's all the same to me. And it doesn't really matter why it got left there.

A. The landlord has to give me back all my stuff. - OR -
B. The landlord has to provide a detailed accounting of all my stuff, and how much money he got for it. - AND -
C. The landlord has to forward that money to me or prove that it was forwarded inappropriately to the state. (he has 3 valid forwarding addresses for me)

Most likely, the landlord dug through it and took what he wanted, gave the rest to his employees, and told them to throw everything else away. That's just how this guy does business, and has been sued numerous times.

 

[justalayman]

So we're both basically saying the same thing. I don't care if it's the "stuff" or the money that came from it. It's all the same to me. And it doesn't really matter why it got left there.

A. The landlord has to give me back all my stuff. - OR -
B. The landlord has to provide a detailed accounting of all my stuff, and how much money he got for it. - AND -
C. The landlord has to forward that money to me or prove that it was forwarded inappropriately to the state. (he has 3 valid forwarding addresses for me)

Most likely, the landlord dug through it and took what he wanted, gave the rest to his employees, and told them to throw everything else away. That's just how this guy does business, and has been sued numerous times.

He can’t have three valid forwarding addresses for you. You have one legal address. If you didn’t provide it to him long ago, well, I provided the statute that listed where he was obligated to send notices.

Anyway, I looked at the template you asked about. That doesn’t apply to your situation. That is in regards to unlawfully held property. He tried to give it to you already. You didn’t retrieve it so it can’t be unlawfully held property.

So file suit and be done with it. He’ll have your valid legal address at that point. Maybe he’ll send you an itemized list of the costs involved with the disposal of your property and if there was any money left (after expenses and whatever) that has since been turned over to the county treasurer

 

[Vance357]

He can’t have three valid forwarding addresses for you. You have one legal address.

There are 3 addresses where I can be easily reached. He has all of them and has used them in the past.

Maybe he’ll send you an itemized list of the costs involved with the disposal of your property and if there was any money left (after expenses and whatever) that has since been turned over to the county treasurer

If he disposed of my property, he's going to have to pay for it since he agreed it has a value above $1,000 and that is the legal threshold for disposing of property without consideration to the owner. My property has value, and he is required to get that value for the property. If I left a new car, for example, he couldn't just have it junked. His own words were that he was going to sell it, but he isn't legally allowed to keep any money - so who has it?

If he turned anything over to the county treasurer (highly unlikely) it would have been in error since my forwarding address was so easily available to both him and the treasurer. I'm not hiding from anybody. He contacted me there before.

And I'd still need that itemized list. Oh what a list that would be.

My best guess is that he kept any money he might have gotten for anything as he gave it away or sold it and took it to the dump. It was likely not fair market value, no records were kept, and things were thrown away that shouldn't have been. Much more his style.

 

[justalayman]

There are 3 addresses where I can be easily reached. He has all of them and has used them in the past.

. You have one address legally. If you ever sue him, he’ll then have your actual address

If he disposed of my property, he's going to have to pay for it since he agreed it has a value above $1,000

what he agreed to is irrelevent. All that means is he had to comply with the law regarding property worth over $1000. He may do this as a matter of course just to avoid some yahoo saying their junk was worth more.

and that is the legal threshold for disposing of property without consideration to the owner. My property has value, and he is required to get that value for the property.

he is obligated to sell it and give you anything remaining after costs and debts are subtracted. If all he got was $1.95 in a valid sale, that’s where he started deducting costs and debts from (obviously an exaggeration the point is: the sale price can be well below $6000 and he would not owe you anything more than that)

If I left a new car, for example, he couldn't just have it junked. His own words were that he was going to sell it, but he isn't legally allowed to keep any money - so who has it?

it appears you haven’t asked anybody where it is. That’s the only way you’re going to find out.

If he turned anything over to the county treasurer (highly unlikely) it would have been in error since my forwarding address was so easily available to both him and the treasurer. I'm not hiding from anybody. He contacted me there before.

the treasurer is not going to chase you. They simply hold it for the 3 years. It’s up to you to go after it. You can tell the court the landlord had three asdressss for you. In the end it won’t make much difference.

And I'd still need that itemized list. Oh what a list that would be.

well, unless you ask you’ll never get it.

My best guess is that he kept any money

you’re pretty good at making assumptions but very poor at doing what you need to do to find out how things actually are.

he might have gotten for anything as he gave it away or sold it and took it to the dump. It was likely not fair market value, no records were kept, and things were thrown away that shouldn't have been. Much more his style.

and your style appears to be to complain about the guy but you’re the one that was evicted and you’re the one that failed to retrieve your property and you’re the one that has done nothing in a year to do anything to claim your money.


How about you either call the guy, send him a demand notice, or just sue him. This thread has pretty much run it’s course. It’s time you act.

 

[Vance357]

This thread has pretty much run it’s course. It’s time you act.

Other people have opinions besides yours, and are just as important. I already said I was probably going to have to sue him. Just curious about what to do first, and there is nothing wrong with that. "Acting" on a legal case is rarely an overnight thing. Not everybody was born knowing everything the way you were.

For some reason you seem to be on the landlord's side and that he dotted every I and crossed every T - but you know nothing about him and the situation and the extreme and total ignorance he practices landlording with. Some people are easy to sue and some people (my landlord) are so bad they get fired by their own lawyer. Try going to small claims court against an 80 year old senile deaf man who forgets to put things in writing and isn't allowed to have a lawyer in court. His memory is called into question due to the medical issues he has but he refuses to let anyone do his business but himself.

 

[not2cleverRed]

How is it that you were evicted by a sheriff?

Not relevant, I'm not going to take this post even further off topic.

Actually, it probably *is* relevant, and would give us insight into the situation. Since you allege that you weren't behind on rent, it is imaginable that you must have violated the terms of your lease in some other way or created some other sort of problem. A restraining order comes to mind as not unthinkable, given your online demeanor...

Anyway, even if you are evicted, there are avenues available for retrieving your stuff.

It's not reasonable to expect free storage of your stuff for a year, just as it is not reasonable to expect the landlord to be adept at getting top dollar for unloading your stuff.

 

[justalayman]

Other people have opinions besides yours, and are just as important. I already said I was probably going to have to sue him. Just curious about what to do first, and there is nothing wrong with that. "Acting" on a legal case is rarely an overnight thing. Not everybody was born knowing everything the way you were.

For some reason you seem to be on the landlord's side and that he dotted every I and crossed every T - but you know nothing about him and the situation and the extreme and total ignorance he practices landlording with. Some people are easy to sue and some people (my landlord) are so bad they get fired by their own lawyer. Try going to small claims court against an 80 year old senile deaf man who forgets to put things in writing and isn't allowed to have a lawyer in court. His memory is called into question due to the medical issues he has but he refuses to let anyone do his business but himself.

I’m not on the landlords side nor am I on yours. You’re the one that is denigrating the landlord but it seems he is on the higher ground here. other than that, rehashing the same thing over and over serves no purpose. You have come to the point of doing something.