Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Meatwad on August 14, 2007, 06:51:56 PM
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Wife and I got a place of our own, so we left some of our things back at the place we used to live at for her sister to use since she moved in there right after we did. (Washer/dryer, riding mower, etc)
Now her parents are kicking them out and wanting to sell almost everything the entire family has because they have no money, including our things.
The kicker, her parents refuse to let us take back what her sister used, even though WE paid for it and own it.
Its been almost a year now since we moved out, but still it pisses me off pretty badly. Is there legal action we can take since they already refused to let us have our own property back?
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You got a reciept?
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or some sort of written agreement stating that you are loaning them the items and not giving it to them?
ack-ack
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No written agreement, and the washer/dryer we may have a receipt here. If not, then they are with the instruction books that her mom has ahold of now.
A few things I bought from someone else that I worked with, so no receipt or paperwork. Strictly cash
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If you really want to get the stuff back, you may want to see if you can find a solo lawyer who will write you a quick, dirty and cheap demand letter to them.
Sometimes that's enough to get people to do the right thing and it shouldn't cost you too much.
-Sik
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(http://danverspolice.org/graphics/screwed.jpg)
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Originally posted by Sikboy
If you really want to get the stuff back, you may want to see if you can find a solo lawyer who will write you a quick, dirty and cheap demand letter to them.
Sometimes that's enough to get people to do the right thing and it shouldn't cost you too much.
-Sik
The flip side making an enemy for life from inlaws/parents which can cause problems down the road. Doesn't sound like any big ticket, new items lost here. So, unless there was serious money involved, I'd probably let it pass..... maybe use it against them later to my advantage.
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Send the inlaws a letter explaining you loaned certain items to their daughter. See if the daughter will back up your claim. Ask them to return or allow you to recover the specific items. If they refuse, then don't worry about staying on the good side of the inlaws since they don't care jack about you and their relationship with you.
Question, did the daugter pay rent to the parents for the room / house what ever it was? If so then renters rights will apply and they can bring action on the parents for return of personal property not belonging to the lessor. You need to check the renters situation in that state to see what the law says about property being held by the landlord.
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Originally posted by Meatwad
The kicker, her parents refuse to let us take back what her sister used, even though WE paid for it and own it.
Eat the loss. Count the dollar value as the price of a lesson learned.
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We live over an hour away from them so I dont care if I get them mad, we both dont like what they did.
When we lived there, it was rent free since they owned the place. But when her sister moved in, they paid rent. They claim we abandoned it which we clearly didnt.
The items value in question comes to over $1200 total.
Calling the sheriff's office tomorrow and explaining everything to them, see what they think.
If im SOL, then its gonna be a war. I have some pretty good dirt on them that I may have to call Springfield about. They are gonna be in some deep crap
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None of my business. Just commenting for something to do and may be completely wrong. That said:
I agree with Tedrbr. This doesn't sound like a good hill to do battle on because there will be bad blood from it. You will not be able to completely avoid your in laws after any legal action, and legal action never has endeared people to each other. Just not worth the trouble that could be had from it. Legal action is for folks who are on the outs and don't talk to each other (lawyers do the communicating.)
Now if it's the principle of the thing that bothers you, and I can see how it might, one thing you could do is say something to the effect of: "You know Pops, that was my stuff you sold and I'm afraid I'll always feel that way." Say this over beers if possible. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill, and don't sound angry if you say it. After all it was your stuff, and you do feel that way and you can't help how you feel so get it off your chest. Then don't bring up the subject again. You've stood up for yourself then in a respectful manner and not been a wimp. Who knows, they may think about it (and you) better the less a big deal is made out of it. Much depends on how you all get along but avoid legal action altogether would be my advice.
Les
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Meatwad,
Most likely the Sheriffs Office wont do anything to help you out but will probably point you in the right direction.
Mavericks points are spot on.
This is a Civil Issue basically and not a criminal one so Law Enforcement will most likely not be the answer.
I dont know what your State has a far as for filing of civil complaints here in Pennsylvania we use District Magistrates ( some call them the Justice of the Peace).
If you have a local magistrate give them a call and you can most likely file a civil case against your in laws.
BTW.. If they are calling it abandoned property did they send you any notice to remove your property from the "rental property"??
Hope this helps and good luck.
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Wow meatwad, I feel for ya man.
Similiar thing happened to me about 6 months ago. The specifics are not the same, but the "getting screwed by family" thing is pretty much the same.
My situation: I inherited a house through my mom from my grandfather. Or at least I thought. I lived their for about a year.
During this time I replaced all the kitchen appliances, redid the bathrooms upstairs and downstairs and turned a bedroom into a computer room. (complete "to the studs" teardowns, jacuzzi tub, top rate stuff wall to wall.) Redid a good chunk of the electrical system in the house, and so on and so forth.
Around this time, mom decided divorce my dad, and this is when the truth came out. The house had NOT been left to me dircetly but actually had been purchased by my mom a couple years before my grandfather passed away. Something I had no idea about.
The house and of course the value of it was now going to be a factor in the divorce settlement. It was a personal asset that was going to get split up. The whole "inheritance" thing was a guise to avoid the houses value being split in a divorce (apparently this was planned well in advance.)
So of course my dad's lawyer finds this out, making it fair game, and the house is then put up for sale by my mom at an insanely low price (and therefore value) to a friend of my mom's.
EVERYTHING in the house gets sold part and parcel. The money i put into the renovations, the appliances....everything.
All toled, around $8,0000 worth of materials, plus HUNDREDS of hours of work that I put in. All sold off to avoid being valued against my mom as an asset in a divorce settlement.
Of course I was mad as all hell over it. I didnt speak to my mother for a good 6 months. Even now the conversations are extrememly strained and consist of her asking how i am doing, with a curt response.
I thought about going the legal route too. I very seriously thought about it. But after lengthy consideration and talking to a few folks about it, I decided to not pursue any real legal action.
It was too much of a hassle, the results i wanted were far from guaranteed, and the whole sitaution was already a twisted mess of lawyers and red tape. The fact of the matter is that yes, this (and your case) is civil law, and it is subject to so many restrictions and loop-holes. Even if you had receipts (as I did,) that doesnt really help you.
I decided to let things work themselves out. People tend to "get theirs" meatwad. SO far that is exactly what is happening. Just remember, bad things happen to good people. But REALLY crappy things happen to bad people.
It is sad that sometimes family is more interested in protecting their own interests (and padding their own bank accounts) than doing what is right when innocent third parties are concerned. It sounds to me like the inlaws are trying to get money that they feel is owed to them by somone else, using your stuff. Terrible.
P.S. What still sucks is im still paying off a small portion of the bill from the renovation store. Dont live there, dont get to enjoy the jacuzzi tub..but I get to pay for it.
Good luck man.
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Loser,
If my mom did that to me, I'd tell her to pay up or be prepared to find her own old folks home and someone to talk to her when she rots in the state run care facility. If she's going to profit from this, she damn well better pay up or I wouldn't lift a finger or pay a dime to help care for her later.
Yea it's not the *right* thing to do but someone screwing me over to gain financially really bugs me, especially if they're cheap about paying me back but still expect me to continue to associate with them or help them out in any way.
If they play the "well I raised you..." card, well then they can consider what they stole from me as compensation and we're even, so don't expect anything from me ever again.
I'm lucky my family doesn't do that sort of thing to each other.
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What eagl said.
Plan the best few alternative solutions and pull the trigger on your fav once you've run through each enough to be sure.
If you've kept in the right, all the bad blood they may have is just sour grape juice and their own problem. Don't give in an inch to people like that.
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Some things in life just aren't worth some legal spat with relatives. A few legal items for what, $1200 or so? Life is too short to get worked up over little things. Focus your time and energy on something positive. I know when I do that it usually results in me being more happy.
Plus, didn't you say you lived in their property RENT FREE? Now a year later you are going to squabble over a few bucks? Let it go. Sounds like you got the best of em by living rent free. My guess if you stepped back and balanced the book you might find you owe them.
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I'm amazed at the way some people think or better yet how they don't think. I'd forget about the items but the inlaws could forget about me. do they live in a trailer park? just read the above post if you were living there rent free you are very petty individual.
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Originally posted by Meatwad
Wife and I got a place of our own, so we left some of our things back at the place we used to live at for her sister to use since she moved in there right after we did. (Washer/dryer, riding mower, etc)
Now her parents are kicking them out and wanting to sell almost everything the entire family has because they have no money, including our things.
The kicker, her parents refuse to let us take back what her sister used, even though WE paid for it and own it.
Its been almost a year now since we moved out, but still it pisses me off pretty badly. Is there legal action we can take since they already refused to let us have our own property back?
Possesion is 9 tenths of the law.
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It dont really bother me today.
An hour from now, I may be totally PO'd over the whole thing, and an hour after that it wouldnt bother me one bit, then a few hours later I am PO'd about it again.
I really seriously think I have a split personality or bipolar. Been having spells like this for a few years now
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Me, if I was really pissed and convinced I deserved my property back, I'd just go get it, including whipping father-in-law's bellybutton if necessary. The consequences would be paying the $200 fine for disorderly conduct (I'd make sure there were witnesses that would back me up that he provoked me - its a Texas thing) and then since I now had possession he'd have to sue me to get the stuff back (probably defensible since ownership could be demonstrated by gathered evidence and testimony).
Thing is, if you're saying the in-laws were letting you stay there rent-free, why the hell are you upset? Don't you feel an ethical need to contribute?
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Don't be too angry about your mood swings. Violations of your personal property are the most egregious violation of the most important right. You should be angry, even when the smallest thing is taken from you unjustly.
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If this happens to me I would explode, but not to the point where I would take this to court.
Have you tried negotiating? I think it would be best for both parties to decide which items you want to take and which ones you'll let them keep.
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No offence but you left it there....over a year.
If you had wanted it you should have taken it when you left.
Having left it there so long well...
Your watermelon outa luck.
You say you lived there rent free.
Saved you a hellof alot more then your losing with the stuff.
C'mon man.
Seems like a fair tradeoff to me.
And exactly how long were they supposed to hold onto your stuff anyway?
Personally I dont think you have a leg to stand on. Either legally or morally.
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Originally posted by Meatwad
It dont really bother me today.
An hour from now, I may be totally PO'd over the whole thing, and an hour after that it wouldnt bother me one bit, then a few hours later I am PO'd about it again.
I really seriously think I have a split personality or bipolar. Been having spells like this for a few years now
I don't think thats it.You just let it eat at you then you block it out.Then to even think about it makes you go to instant MAD.