Bicycles removed by property manager without my knowledge

pinkshoes

Given we are in lockdown and you should be staying at home then this seems a rather stupid move by the management company.

I would send a letter before action claiming for the secondnhand value of your two bikes saying that no written notification was sent to either you or your landlord, and given the national lockdown and requirement to stay at home,  then they were negligent in their action given it was unlikely people would be using bikes at the moment so not surprising you didn't see the tag supposedly attached. 

I would ask them for proof of postage that a letter was sent.

How much were the bikes worth?  I'm assuming you can't claim on insurance? (I used to live in Oxford Ns bike insurance could often be more than the value of the bike!)
 

Diamandis

When considering the value you might also need to take into account the condition of the bikes, if they were left outside for months it's unlikely they were in pristine condition. 

[Deleted User]

davidmcn said:

_shel said:

davidmcn said:

pbartlett said:

the propery manager has comitted the criminal act of theft and you should report the crime to the police

You may wish to remind yourself what the definition of theft is before anybody wastes the police's time. 

 Why don't you tell us your definition then? 

Assuming we're talking England or Wales, try here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/crossheading/definition-of-theft

 No dear YOUR definition as the Law confirms what the OP describes as theft 

bris

The property manager was trying to follow the abandoned property procedure. Sending the letters somewhat goes a long way to prove this so there is no case for theft and is a civil matter.

Whether the property manager followed the correct procedure is not for any of us to determine here as we don't have enough information but a court would decide if it was followed properly or not.

burlingtonfl6

What is the scrap value of 2 weathered bikes nowadays?

Ectophile

bris said:

The property manager was trying to follow the abandoned property procedure. Sending the letters somewhat goes a long way to prove this so there is no case for theft and is a civil matter.

Whether the property manager followed the correct procedure is not for any of us to determine here as we don't have enough information but a court would decide if it was followed properly or not.

The abandoned property procedure requires sending two separate letters.  Then selling the goods at a fair price, and keeping the money to hand to the owner of the goods.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/32

davidmcn

_shel said:

davidmcn said:

_shel said:

davidmcn said:

pbartlett said:

the propery manager has comitted the criminal act of theft and you should report the crime to the police

You may wish to remind yourself what the definition of theft is before anybody wastes the police's time. 

 Why don't you tell us your definition then? 

Assuming we're talking England or Wales, try here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/crossheading/definition-of-theft

 No dear YOUR definition as the Law confirms what the OP describes as theft 

Where's the dishonesty? The managing agents have the honest belief that they have the right to clear abandoned property from common areas (which they almost certainly do), and that they've taken reasonable steps to ascertain which items are actually abandoned (arguable they haven't, but it still wouldn't make it a crime).

burlingtonfl6

Let's face it, if the bikes were of any real value the OP would have checked on them more than once in 5 months

Ditzy_Mitzy

_shel said:

davidmcn said:

_shel said:

davidmcn said:

pbartlett said:

the propery manager has comitted the criminal act of theft and you should report the crime to the police

You may wish to remind yourself what the definition of theft is before anybody wastes the police's time. 

 Why don't you tell us your definition then? 

Assuming we're talking England or Wales, try here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/crossheading/definition-of-theft

 No dear YOUR definition as the Law confirms what the OP describes as theft 

No dishonesty, no mens rea.  
As I understand it, the property owner wrote to all occupiers stating that any bicycles left in the communal area on X date with labels on would be deemed abandoned and removed for disposal.  OP having not received, or in error disregarded, the letter ended up in a situation whereby his bicycles were left with labels on, therefore deemed abandoned and removed.  
There are defences available under the Theft Act for these particular circumstances.  
Whether there's a civil case here is one thing, however nothing criminal has occurred.  

pbartlett

so my defense against nicking someone's property left, say, in their front garden is this officer - i put a label on it and wrote them a note saying if it wasnt moved in a month i would deem it abandoned and collect it.