Steal?

[tilster]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA
My step daughter (age 43) lived in my house in VA with her mother and me Jan-Apr 2017 at no charge. She left most of her clothes here. She now claims we stole her clothes. Does she have a claim?

 

[adjusterjack]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA
My step daughter (age 43) lived in my house in VA with her mother and me Jan-Apr 2017 at no charge. She left most of her clothes here. She now claims we stole her clothes. Does she have a claim?

Sure, she has a claim. She claims you stole her clothes. That's her claim.

Is that really what you wanted to ask?

Now let me suggest some questions that would be more appropriate.

1 - Can she have you arrested and prosecuted for theft?

Highly unlikely that the police would be interested.

2 - Can she sue you for the value of the clothes?

Yes. Anybody can sue anybody for anything.

3 - Can she win?

Depends. What did you do with the clothes?

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA
My step daughter (age 43) lived in my house in VA with her mother and me Jan-Apr 2017 at no charge. She left most of her clothes here. She now claims we stole her clothes. Does she have a claim?

What does this have to do with debt collectionS????????

 

[tilster]

Shows I have alot to learn about the law

What does this have to do with debt collectionS????????

probably nothing, I had a hard time figuring where my question should go. Is there a way to post a question not knowing which subforum it should be in?

 

[xylene]

How much stuff (volume) and approximate value (your estimate and her claim) are we talking.

I'm guessing you discarded the clothes without any particular regard for abandoned property law or notice. Did you give her notice you intended to discard her clothes? Not to be obtuse, you don't have the clothes do you?

Bluntly you let here stay long enough to be a tenant. Did she move out on her own accord? Could you speak to those exact cicumstances a bit?


(I agree, it would be cool if there was a new post 'triage' but we do our best and this is the way it is.)

BTW, A lot of stuff that seems to stoke your moral outrage, like her being 43 and not paying rent are largely irrelevant legally for this issue.

 

[tilster]

How much stuff (volume) and approximate value (your estimate and her claim) are we talking.

I'm guessing you discarded the clothes without any particular regard for abandoned property law or notice. Did you give her notice you intended to discard her clothes? Not to be obtuse, you don't have the clothes do you?

Bluntly you let here stay long enough to be a tenant. Did she move out on her own accord? Could you speak to those exact cicumstances a bit?


(I agree, it would be cool if there was a new post 'triage' but we do our best and this is the way it is.)

BTW, A lot of stuff that seems to stoke your moral outrage, like her being 43 and not paying rent are largely irrelevant legally for this issue.

We still have her rack of clothes, books, desk, small TV.
We gave her a deadline to move out. She kept wanting it extended. She originally asked to stay two weeks. She kept on extending the time.
We have offered to bring her belongings to her present rental place. She tells us to keep them here at our house until she is ready for them. This has happened repeatedly for the last eight months. She continues to tell others we stole her belongings.
How do we get the belongings to her when she is not receptive to us.
We did not take anything from her, we helped her a lot.

 

[LdiJ]

We still have her rack of clothes, books, desk, small TV.
We gave her a deadline to move out. She kept wanting it extended. She originally asked to stay two weeks. She kept on extending the time.
We have offered to bring her belongings to her present rental place. She tells us to keep them here at our house until she is ready for them. This has happened repeatedly for the last eight months. She continues to tell others we stole her belongings.
How do we get the belongings to her when she is not receptive to us.
We did not take anything from her, we helped her a lot.

Well, you could just pack them up nicely and TAKE them to her without asking her first. Or, you could simply continue to store them for her...lots of adult children have things stored at their parent's home. Or, you could take the hard line and follow your state's abandoned property rules. Me? I would probably just continue to store them. However, that is just the way that I am.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Well, you could just pack them up nicely and TAKE them to her without asking her first. Or, you could simply continue to store them for her...lots of adult children have things stored at their parent's home. Or, you could take the hard line and follow your state's abandoned property rules. Me? I would probably just continue to store them. However, that is just the way that I am.

I'd be more inclined to ship, with documentation of a tracking number.

I suppose OP could write a cease and desist letter regarding the slander, because it's really not about the clothes. OP is really more concerned about the (false) allegations that he and his wife are thieves.

However, for the sake of marital tranquility, OP should take his wife's feelings about the situation into consideration. Even though the stepkid is middle aged, one still has to make sure they're overstepping.

 

[quincy]

We still have her rack of clothes, books, desk, small TV.
We gave her a deadline to move out. She kept wanting it extended. She originally asked to stay two weeks. She kept on extending the time.
We have offered to bring her belongings to her present rental place. She tells us to keep them here at our house until she is ready for them. This has happened repeatedly for the last eight months. She continues to tell others we stole her belongings.
How do we get the belongings to her when she is not receptive to us.
We did not take anything from her, we helped her a lot.

You could rent a small storage unit for a month, inform her that the storage unit is where her items are being kept, and let her know that at the end of the month's rental on the unit, the contents of the storage unit will be auctioned off if the items are not retrieved by her before then or unless she pays to extend the storage time on the unit.

That leaves the next move entirely up to her and gets her property out of your house.

Have an inventory with photos of all her items that are in storage.