Moral dilemma regarding found games, opinions needed

[sisko]

posession is 9/10ths the law,

No, it is not. Far from it.

Following this farce is a surefire way to get your ass in some very hot water.

[halbert]

I don't think this is a debate: If it doesn't belong to you, don't take it.

If technically by law it does belong to you but there is a good chance they will come back for it, you don't take it.

[Aussie2B]

Seems split about 50/50. o_O

As for asking/talking to the girl, that's out of the question. Nobody has seen this girl in years. From what little I know, this man has a really bad relationship with the girl's mother (we don't even want to know why doors are kicked in inside this house...), so I think she hasn't been around her father much in many years. I'm guessing these games probably haven't been played since they were practically brand new, and that's also why I doubt she'd get these games back.

As for talking to my dad about it, I already did. He couldn't care less. He's not going to sue the guy or anything. He just wants to be done with him, get all his crap out of here in whatever way he can, and start fixing the place up. In this area, people have to pay for garbage removal, and if you have more than just a normal garbage can full of junk, you have to haul it to the dump yourself and pay a hefty amount to have them take it. My dad already has enough work and expenses to worry about with this house, so he'd be happy to not have to do that. I have a feeling that the guy will probably still leave some junk behind, though. That's why I could possibly get the games by just coming up with a way of packing them and "hiding" them so he doesn't bother to take them.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I don't think this is a debate: If it doesn't belong to you, don't take it.

If technically by law it does belong to you but there is a good chance they will come back for it, you don't take it.

I agree. I personally wouldn't take the games just because of the guilt i would feel soon after. Though that also don't mean i wouldn't pick them up later after some time has passed and i knew he was long gone.

[Jasoco]

Normally, I'd say no. But hey, I agree. He abandoned the house, didn't keep up his end of the bargain, just call it part of his payment and take the things.

We have the same problem, though. We're too nice. I would probably have done the same thing. Let him stay and kindly asked to hurry up and leave. But what you all need to do is get the authorities if you legally can. Do whatever you legally can to dump this guy. Especially show them what the house looks like. Take him to court.

Kick his ass, Luke. Kick his ass and take his wallet!

[jhd7]

It comes down to who owns the contents of that house... your dad or the bum. The agreement (lease, eviction conditions, whatever) is between the two of them, not you. Even if the house will be yours someday, it's not yours yet. Legally, you're not involved, so taking anything would be stealing.

Just my two cents.

Jeff D

[dmhawkmoon]

I think that everyone who said you shouldn't take the stuff didn't read the story. This guy wasn't paying rent for a long time and got evicted a long time ago, still lived there after being evicted, and then when he did move out he left tons of things and the house in ruins. I don't know the exact law, but I can't imagine that, with the time frame we seem to be talking about here, the stuff could still be under his control. What is the time frame anyway? I assume we're talking a period of months since the eviction.

[tholly]

just take them......he prolly wont even know they are gone

[Jasoco]

In the words of Sonic the Hedgehog on The Simpsons: "Take it! Take it take it take it TAKE IT!!!"

Seriously, the douchebag [SP] is a dumbass. And a bad person who deserves no worldly possessions. His poor daughter on the other hand. She don't deserve him.

[musical]

I moved out of an apartment complex last year. I left behind a table and curtains. Did the Apartment Company call me and say, "You left this stuff behind"? Of course not. They just claimed it for themselves.

Abandoned property goes to the landlord.

[Jasoco]

Were they really nice curtains? I'd be pissed!

Seriously though, this guy abandoned the place, did not pay the rent. He does not own it. I think that's enough to even hold up in court. Deadbeats do not get privileges. I still feel bad for the child.

[Oobgarm]

My thoughts: Take and keep. Don't sell the rest of them off until everything is in the clear. That way, your ass is covered and you can give the games back in the event that the guy demands them back.

And Jasoco, you did in fact spell DOUCHEBAG correctly.

[dbiersdorf]

To be brutally honest with you, if it were me I would have taken them the moment I saw them, regardless if I had them or not.

[Ed Oscuro]

a suggestion: if you're on speaking terms with the soon to be former tenant, ASK him if you can have the games

Uh, why does everybody miss the part where it says he hasn't been back for a while?

In any case,

$XXX > a couple common PSX, N64 and SNES games

That guy's damned lucky you folks didn't throw his ass out on the street, that's what.

After he got the heavy stuff out of the house (the bulk of the mess I suppose) I would've told him he had two weeks to clean everything else out, and after that point he'd be arrested for trespassing (get the cops over to talk to him on this point beforehand, of course).

[Jasoco]

And Jasoco, you did in fact spell DOUCHEBAG correctly.

Whoo!

I am the Spelling KING!

ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM!!!

[ManekiNeko]

He still owes your family rent, right? In that case, hold the games as collatoral until he coughs up the goods. It's not likely that he'll ever come back, but I'd wait at least a year before you sold the games.

JR

[Aussie2B]

Well, I did make a decision yesterday, but since I don't want people to think I'm an idiot for not taking them or a thief for doing so, I'm not going to say what I did. :P I feel no regrets about my decision, so it's all good.

As for the girl, I feel sorry for her too. Her room felt like it was trapped in time. It looked like time had stopped in the late 90s (or around 2000). There was a bird cage in there still filled with bird crap along the bottom and bird seed all over the room; I'm sure glad there was no dead bird in it... There were all these photos of her and her parents everywhere. Her parents were so happy together in the pictures. My own parents divorce never hurt me much, but this girl I feel bad for.

Myself, my dad, and my boyfriend all worked like mofos yesterday. Just cleaning out the girl's room was an all day effort for myself. I filled up countless boxes of crap. Almost everything in the room was just piled on the floor all mixed up with tons of dust, dirt, old food, and other nasty shit mixed in. I don't even want to know how many pairs of little girl panties I picked up. >_< I'm praying that they were at least clean... but thankfully I had gloves. My boyfriend was hauling box after box after box into the garage, not to mention the mattress, box spring, bed frame, an exercise bike, heavy pieces of furniture, etc. The more we worked, the more I got pissed off at the guy. We spent the whole day doing shit that any decent human being would take care of themselves. The grossest thing (and it's very hard to pick just one) had to be the dishes in the dishwasher... which weren't even washed and had food all caked on them.

We did manage to get just about everything out of the house (there's a couch upstairs still). We're not going to be free storage forever for the guy, though. He gets another couple days (he didn't even show up yesterday) to get it, or we're going to start up a yard sale and try to move it out of there. At that point, we'll just claim whatever we want. The guy left behind two pretty nice TVs. There's a big one that my mom could use, and there's a small yellow and blue one from the girl's room that would be great for playing games on. There's also a pretty neat shelf that I could use for games. Eh, we'll see, I suppose.

Oh, and just to keep this game-related, I ended up finding a lot more games in that room than at first. There could be more, though. I didn't look extremely thoroughly. Here's what I found there (all loose):

N64:

Goldeneye
Mario Kart 64

SNES:

Super Mario World (re-release)
Killer Instinct
Super Mario Kart (re-release)

Game Boy:

Tetris

Game Boy Advance:

Pinobee

PlayStation:

Spyro the Dragon
Destruction Derby
Tomb Raider
FIFA 97
Gran Turismo

The PlayStation games are all likely shot, though. I was checking them out, and Spyro has a crack in it (from the edge inward). The other games don't look like they have anything that bad, but they are sure beat up like hell. I don't know if they'd even work.

[petewhitley]

Her room felt like it was trapped in time. It looked like time had stopped in the late 90s (or around 2000) ... Game Boy Advance: Pinobee

This is neither here nor there, but the presence of Pinobee for the GBA indicates that time stopped no earlier than 05/30/2001 (said game's release date). Anyways, I hope (but doubt) that your father gets his back rent at some point...

[DStriemer]

Regardless of how much money this guy owes your family, and how much damage he did to the property there is still no right on your part to procure his belongings. In fact, it is the landlords responsibility to give proper notice of items left behind to a tenant. It is also the landlords responsibilty to reasonably take care of any items left behind by a tenant until they can retrieve them. Any costs, or inconveniences of doing such can be claimed in court along with damages and unpaid rent owing. Keeping the items will only lose you favour with the judge in a court proceeding.(Assuming the guy actually notices said items are gone).

When all is said and done. I would take him to court for unpaid rent, damages, and if things are really bad, lost rent due to inability to rent the property out again for whatever period of time. Make sure to take pictures of the damages to the property as they are crucial even if you do not have pictures of the property before the damage. Judges' occasionally have common sense.

[brykasch]

Well having worked for my sister who used to handle some rental properties in exchange for free rent. This happens alot, we had to clean up a house where they literally had put all their garbage and what not in the garage. Basically after 3 months I would've had a legal eviction noticed served by the sherrif's dept in your area. After that depending on the state they have 30 days to come up with the rent or get out. After that date if they are not out, I would then proceed to file suit for damages and back rent as its going to cost a sizeable sum to make the home liveable again. Just tacking a eviction notice up your dad made doesn't have any legal leg to stand on unfortunatly. Your family is alot nicer than I would've been in that situation, people tend to take advantage of this. Myself I would've talk to my dad first about it, but even then I would've left the stuff there.