holding a party personal property until verbal agreement is paid up

[groomingroom]

is it legal to hold personal property until a verbal agreement is paid up

What is the name of your state? New York
I went into a verbal agreement with a now ex boyfriend in May . In exchange for me paying in advance for a trip , he was then to give his time in photography services to my company GRI Inc . For every hour he worked at a mutually agreed upon rate of $10 per hour I would deduct that amount off the travel bill , if he was to find employment then he would pay off any and/or all of the remaining balance instead of working it off . He did in fact find work and has been emplo for nearly 2 months . I recieved $600 in payments with $1700 pending .I've given him all the reciepts and wrote out a promissory that I personally handed to him. He refused to sign it . In it I asked for $300 per week until the bill of $2300 was paid up . At this point I've had to call and email and txt him just to get paid. My last coversation with him he threatened me and was irrate, fuming with anger and verbal abuse . He said I would have to deal with him and his two roomates if anything happens to his personal property. He confessed to me at one time that a particular item was stolen from his last job and I think that's why he is sweating to get his stuff back. Now he refuses to give me any money at all so I'm suing him . I refuse to give him back his personal property , it's all I have to insure that all monies loaned will get paid back in full .He left his personal belongings at my house at the time of our romantic involvement and after I broke it off he didn't claim it and now wants it all back .
My question is ...Is it legal to hold his belongings ? I have a court date for the end of the month and don't know if I'm within my right or does this have nothing to do with his personal belongings as he made this agreement with my company. Any suggestions on how to proceed ??

 

[JETX]

I refuse to give him back his personal property , it's all I have to insure that all monies loaned will get paid back in full .

Give him back his property. Unless you have a 'security interest', in WRITING, allowing you to keep the property until paid, you have NO legal right to his property. You are going to lose this one.

Is it legal to hold his belongings ?

No.

 

[groomingroom]

securing property until payment of verbal agruement is settled

As per my post I don't have anything in writing since the agreement was a verbal one.
When he gave me some money towards the debt I did hand him a promissory note that he would get all of his personal belongings returned to him after all the monies loaned was paid . Does this count as a security agreement ? What are you thoughts ?

 

[BL]

You can not hold his belongings .

If He left them there , you should have sent him a RRR Certified letter , stating He had 30 days to retrieve his belongings or you would consider them abandoned and dispose of them in what ever manner you chose .

How were his repayments made .
Was there any references per payment record that reflects repayment for the trip ?

Do you have anything reflecting the amount of the trip , and your method of paying for it ?

If you have nothing , He could could claim it was a romantic trip that you willingly paid for , without no strings attached .

These types of cases happen all the time in romantic relationships .

 

[JETX]

When he gave me some money towards the debt I did hand him a promissory note that he would get all of his personal belongings returned to him after all the monies loaned was paid . Does this count as a security agreement ?

What EXACTLY does your written note say as to the property??
And did he agree (SIGN) it??