Ex neighbours possessions left on our drive

anotheruser

Stick a sign out saying "FREE".
Slowly put stuff in your bin as and when you can to get rid of it.

anotheruser

MEM62 said:

KazJenn said:

Just to clarify. We did not give consent explicitly. 

Yes you did.    

No, they did not.
They did not specifically say it would be okay to store for X number of days.
The only (verbal) agreement was until 5pm.  But the OP could easily say there was no verbal agreement at all - no proof either way so that can be put by the wayside now.

Fact is, anybody could come along and steal anything.
I'd find it hard to believe a judge would agree it was the OPs responsibility to protect stuff they don't own, have nothing to do with and didn't agree to store.

Teapot55

(How on earth does a person with children in their care go from being a homeowner to homeless? Very sad situation for your ex-neighbour). 

I agree with @Mutton_Geoff about giving him a bit of time in the circumstances, especially since there’s no more room at his parents’ house. 

For now if you can possibly cover his possessions with plastic sheeting it’d be a kind gesture he probably needs right now. 

rexmedorum

KazJenn said:

Just to clarify. We did not give consent explicitly. When it was put on our drive without our permission we stated that we expected it to be gone by 5pm. We certainly made no promises about looking after it etc. A neighbour had earlier agreed to look after the items which were rejected.

We absolutely will try to make contact with the ex-husband first and try to resolve amicably. For all I know he's already planning on collecting it and just hasn't told anyone. However due to the lack of contact and him ignoring his ex-wife's calls I just wanted alternative options. 

Before his ex-wife left last night we asked her to text him saying that she had left and attached a photo of his stuff to make it clear that it was left on our drive for him to sort.

It's easy to say in hindsight but it would have been better to more firmly tell her to remove the stuff immedately.

bbat said:

If youve seriously considered loading car and taking it to tip, would you consider taking it to him if he's moved locally? Just one way to speed up the process. Yes, i know you shouldn't have to.

If at all practical this would probably be the best thing to do.

Section62

anotheruser said:

Stick a sign out saying "FREE".
Slowly put stuff in your bin as and when you can to get rid of it.

You do realise you can't just give away or dispose of other people's property like that?

anotheruser said:

MEM62 said:

KazJenn said:

Just to clarify. We did not give consent explicitly. 

Yes you did.    

No, they did not.

They did not specifically say it would be okay to store for X number of days.
The only (verbal) agreement was until 5pm.  But the OP could easily say there was no verbal agreement at all - no proof either way so that can be put by the wayside now.

Fact is, anybody could come along and steal anything.
I'd find it hard to believe a judge would agree it was the OPs responsibility to protect stuff they don't own, have nothing to do with and didn't agree to store.

Your first BiB is contradicted by your second BiB.  There was agreement to allow the items to be left on the drive.  There's no point pretenting otherwise.

The third BiB ignores the small point that there were other people present who were aware of the goings on and the arrangement made.  Do you think it is good advice to encourage someone to lie?  I'm not sure you understand how the law works in a situation like this.

MEM62

anotheruser said:

MEM62 said:

KazJenn said:

Just to clarify. We did not give consent explicitly. 

Yes you did.    

No, they did not.
They did not specifically say it would be okay to store for X number of days.
The only (verbal) agreement was until 5pm.  

On what basis do you not consider that to be consent?  Consent is not negated because it had a short time limit.  

Gavin83

youth_leader said:

My friend threw her boyfriend's possessions out into the front garden when they split, was all ruined in the rain.  

Did he sue her? If not he missed a great opportunity there.

Anyway there’s some terrible advice on this thread. Dumping it on the neighbours drive is a terrible idea for several reasons. I’m also not sure why people keep recommending to ring the council as it’s on private property, they won’t care. Dumping it on the pavement is also a terrible idea as it could lead to the OP receiving a criminal record.

The correct course of action is to write to him, giving him X number of days (a week should do) to collect or it will be disposed of. I doubt you could charge him for it though, he didn’t dump it so any such bill would need to go to the wife.

I also think you allowing it to be stored for any length of time has muddied the waters. They could now potentially argue you have a duty of care for it and hold you responsible for any damage. You should have refused from the start.

letthemeatcake

I do think you should contact the Husband and ask what were the arrangements between them regarding the items now on your drive. Hopefully there is something in writing or included on a Consent Order.

My partner is in a similar position but he is only responsible for items listed on the Consent Order which he is in the process of moving out box by box. The rest is for the ex to dispose of, keep, sell, move at her own cost and anything left behind will be her responsibility.

GDB2222

Sadly, the OP has responsibility for these goods. If you take them to the dump, you would be liable to the ex-neighbour for the value.

In order to minimise the scope for conflict, you would need to itemise everything before dumping it, which is really quite a big job. I suggest that, instead of taking that on, you nag the ex neighbour to come and collect his stuff.  Or, at least, get his agreement in writing to you disposing of the stuff.

AFF8879

MEM62 said:

anotheruser said:

MEM62 said:

KazJenn said:

Just to clarify. We did not give consent explicitly. 

Yes you did.    

No, they did not.
They did not specifically say it would be okay to store for X number of days.
The only (verbal) agreement was until 5pm.  

On what basis do you not consider that to be consent?  Consent is not negated because it had a short time limit.  

If it went to a judge, I think it would be quite easily arguable that consent was given “under duress” - hence didn’t actually give consent - OP was suddenly faced with this volatile situation and felt pressured to respond accordingly. It’s not like the feuding couple came and asked for their consent in advance.