Money Moral Dilemma: Should we return valuables to their owner?

onomatopoeia99

REJP wrote: »

Well said. Stealing by finding. Why am I not surprised so many people think it alright to keep valuables found in lofts? Previous owners may be found by checking Council Tax records.
A matter of conscience isn't it, and probably a generational thing. Wonder how many people don't see it as stealing? May be long lost family heirlooms which are of great value to owners or perhaps children of previous owners who died.

Solicitor told me anything I leave behind when selling the house becomes the property of the buyers as part of the contract and they can charge me to dispose of it if it was not in the schedule of what's going to be left.

Are you suggesting that this is not the case, and if I sell my home and leave stuff behind it is an obligation on the buyers to track me down and return the things I leave behind? If so, I've just discovered how to avoid paying a removal firm next time I move

I think you're wrong by the way, and the sale contract will have been explicit about ownership of goods left behind going to the buyer, so "theft by finding" will not be the case..

Bluekiwi

Pickledonionspacesaver - Sharp unnecessary words. Rather than take such a stance you and those who started this thread should contact the sellers of your property. Why not? Those who posed the question obviously have a point of contact. The Sellers! It does not hurt to simply and politely ask them if they were aware they'd left items in the attic/wherever. Would they care to collect? I am currently building a case against a couple who have deliberately kept possessions belonging to their sellers. The sellers had a large amount of items in storage and only recently realised a number of things were missing when they cleared the storage. They have had to come to me as the people concerned broke their word to allow their sellers back in the house when the sale went through. They
demanded hundreds of pounds for the privilege of returning named items. As the sellers were rather shellshocked at the nasty demands of their buyers and as, it would appear, they had an ineffective solicitor, they felt they needed to accept the terms, if only to end the sorry matter. What the buyers didn't admit to, was the fact they had a number of items remaining which belonged to the sellers. The sellers now feel obliged to take civil action against their buyers who will have to explain WHY they did not offer the sellers a chance to collect their items. What the buyers will have to explain is why they didn't contact the sellers? I would advise that the buyers contact the sellers immediately and advise them that they have their property. Otherwise, they may find themselves in a civil law suit.

pickledonionspaceraider

Bluekiwi wrote: »

Pickledonionspacesaver - Sharp unnecessary words. Rather than take such a stance you and those who started this thread should contact the sellers of your property. Why not? Those who posed the question obviously have a point of contact. The Sellers! It does not hurt to simply and politely ask them if they were aware they'd left items in the attic/wherever. Would they care to collect? I am currently building a case against a couple who have deliberately kept possessions belonging to their sellers. The sellers had a large amount of items in storage and only recently realised a number of things were missing when they cleared the storage. They have had to come to me as the people concerned broke their word to allow their sellers back in the house when the sale went through. They
demanded hundreds of pounds for the privilege of returning named items. As the sellers were rather shellshocked at the nasty demands of their buyers and as, it would appear, they had an ineffective solicitor, they felt they needed to accept the terms, if only to end the sorry matter. What the buyers didn't admit to, was the fact they had a number of items remaining which belonged to the sellers. The sellers now feel obliged to take civil action against their buyers who will have to explain WHY they did not offer the sellers a chance to collect their items. What the buyers will have to explain is why they didn't contact the sellers? I would advise that the buyers contact the sellers immediately and advise them that they have their property. Otherwise, they may find themselves in a civil law suit.

Oh yes, you are ''building a case''??

Do the legal profession not use basic grammar any more, such as paragraphs?

I call BS

pixiebel81

Bluekiwi wrote: »

Pickledonionspacesaver - Sharp unnecessary words. Rather than take such a stance you and those who started this thread should contact the sellers of your property. Why not? Those who posed the question obviously have a point of contact. The Sellers! It does not hurt to simply and politely ask them if they were aware they'd left items in the attic/wherever. Would they care to collect? I am currently building a case against a couple who have deliberately kept possessions belonging to their sellers. The sellers had a large amount of items in storage and only recently realised a number of things were missing when they cleared the storage. They have had to come to me as the people concerned broke their word to allow their sellers back in the house when the sale went through. They
demanded hundreds of pounds for the privilege of returning named items. As the sellers were rather shellshocked at the nasty demands of their buyers and as, it would appear, they had an ineffective solicitor, they felt they needed to accept the terms, if only to end the sorry matter. What the buyers didn't admit to, was the fact they had a number of items remaining which belonged to the sellers. The sellers now feel obliged to take civil action against their buyers who will have to explain WHY they did not offer the sellers a chance to collect their items. What the buyers will have to explain is why they didn't contact the sellers? I would advise that the buyers contact the sellers immediately and advise them that they have their property. Otherwise, they may find themselves in a civil law suit.

The OP specifically says the items do not belong to the person they bought the house from

Extemporaneous

I found a pair of diamond ear studs on a windowsill, when I moved into my new home.

As it had been left empty for some time between owners - yet there was an unmistakable whiff of perfume in the still-carpeted and curtained room - I imagine that a key holder at the Estate Agents had been abusing his position of trust and using the empty house for Assignations.

The ear studs became Mine. No question!

gaving7095

No, you're not obliged to do anything & the stuff is all legally yours from the sound of it.
Technically it was most-likely also the legal property of the seller - at least until they sold the house to you :-)
I believe the law is that anything which is left in or on your property for more than 3 months becomes legally yours.

fatbelly

PasturesNew wrote: »

Legally they're yours.

But, it would depend on what it was and how valuable .... e.g. if it were a box of personal jewellery and some letters ... I'd want the owners to have it back ... if it were just a Rembrandt ... I'd flog that, it's mine

Didn't Tommy Cooper find a Rembrandt and a Stradivarius in his?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF-PuHFwGZc

unholyangel

So many people saying legally they own the items - they don't, unless it was specifically included in the sale of the house and the previous owners had title (if you don't have title then you don't have the right to sell the goods/pass ownership to anyone else).

They're an involuntary bailiee and as such have a duty to take reasonable care of the goods and take reasonable steps to trace the owner.

kerri_gt

lincroft1710 wrote: »

The owner may have had dementia and thus being moved to a care home or may even have died. Also some relatives don't realise the value or significance of items they find in the loft and just leave them there.

^^ this. Also, when we moved (all faculties in place) we used a full pack / move service. Despite me showing the removal company what was to come with us from the loft and what was to be left - they still managed to leave several boxes and items that had been assigned to move with us. Had I not checked the loft before leaving the house, they wouldn't have made the move (as it was the van had gone so they got loaded in the car).

By the time you move, unpack and finally get around to 'those last boxes' it's easy to see how some things may end up overlooked. I still think 'where is X - have I seen it since the move' three years later. The only way I am 99.9% sure it wasn't left is because I thoroughly checked the house after cleaning it and leaving.

Personally I would try and find the original owner / family - simply because if the shoe was on the other foot, I would like to think someone might bother to do the same.