Is it illegal to dispose of props?

BungalowBel

My son has a garage but no car.  He allowed an amateur  dramatics group to store their props there for a tiny (I think it was £50) annual fee.  They have had the use of the garage for about four years, however they only paid the fee once and have never used any of the props.  The AD  group has now  disbanded.

He has emailed the contact email he was given several times to ask them to remove the stuff from his garage.  Someone replied once, but every other email has been ignored.

He is now thinking of sending them an email stating that if they do not remove their props within 28 days he is going to dispose of them.

Is this illegal?

lincroft1710

There is no law which says you cannot dispose of "props".


If the group has disbanded, the person whom your son has contacted may not be/have been in a position to make decisions about the groups' assets or liabilities. So he may not have been contacting the right person. Or the group may have disbanded acrimoniously with former members not communicating with each other or refusing to take responsibility.


What form do the props take? A few rickety "flats" may be practically worthless but fancy costumes could be worth a lot.  


If your son had made an effort to chase the group for unpaid garage rent then he could offset any monies realised from the sale of the props against the unpaid rent. 

Peterrr

There is nobody who might ever pursue him for these items and even if someone appeared out of the blue with a grievance he can demonstrate his goodwill with 3 years of free storage and multiple attempts to have the items collected.
He should advertise them as free to collect (in a single job lot - he doesn't need randoms picking over what they want and leaving the rest for him to dispose of!)

Norman_Castle

BungalowBel said:

He has emailed the contact email he was given several times to ask them to remove the stuff from his garage.  Someone replied once, but every other email has been ignored.

He is now thinking of sending them an email stating that if they do not remove their props within 28 days he is going to dispose of them.

What did the reply say? After 3 years unpaid rent, no use of the items and now the group disbanding I'd consider the items abandoned or disowned and dumped would be a more appropriate description. Offer them 28 days, if there is any interest in the items he can negotiate.

He should offer to dispose of them to avoid wasting time with claims that they will be removed at a later date which never happens..

cjdew

I would google the closest theatres, schools, drama clubs and offer the items to them as a job lot. You have given the old group enough chances and this way will feel better that they are going to good use and get the garage back. 

onomatopoeia99

Your son is an "involuntary bailee" and has responsibilities.  A quick internet search of that term will explain what they are and how to proceeed.

BungalowBel

Thank you all for your comments.  I have read about the responsibilities of an involuntary bailee and understand what my son has to do.  All the comments have been very helpful.

There is nothing of any value in the props, it is mainly old furniture.

sourpuss2021

If he does throw them away it doesn’t sound like anyone will make a song and dance about it!

Norman_Castle

sourpuss2021 said:

If he does throw them away it doesn’t sound like anyone will make a song and dance about it!

Hopefully not but in this case thats exactly what might happen.

TBagpuss

I's also be a bit surprised after this length of time if anyone knows what there was. If it is old furniture it is unlikely to have any significant value, so offset against 2 years unpaid rent may well solve itself. 

kaMelo

sourpuss2021 said:

If he does throw them away it doesn’t sound like anyone will make a song and dance about it!

lol, I see what you did there.