Can I move personal property from the house that I just bought?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can I move personal property from the house that I just bought?
We recently closed on a cash purchase auction home. In our contract it states that personal property left on the property is not included in the sale. The previous owner had not lived in the house for at least 2 years according to neighbors and the power/water company. We have sent a certified letter asking them to please contact us to remove their property within 30 days. They did contact us and we made an arranged date. The day before we were to meet up they showed up at the house and harassed my brother who was there installing a basement door that need replaced. The previous owner wanted my brother to leave the doors unlocked so that they could go in later without us being there. He told them no and they proceeded to make threats against his life. My brother locked up the house and left so as not to get into a more aggressive situation. The next day the day we had originally arranged to meet up we found they had broken into the
house and removed half of his belongings. We called the police and filed a report and pressed charges. We
even called them again offering to try again and allow them to come get the rest of it but they will not answer
their phones. We still have 3 weeks until their 30 days is up and we would like to get the carpets cleaned and start moving in. Can we legally move the remaining things to the basement or can they sue us for touching it? This has become a nightmare and any advice would be great.
Asked on March 1, 2019 under Real Estate Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Give them the balance of the time you originally promised, and in fact, send them another certified letter reiterating that they may make arrangments to remove their belongings within that remaining time frame (citing to the original letter) and stating that anything not removed by then will be presumed to be abandoned and be discarded. If they don't get their belongings by the end of the period you originally offered (which, by the way, was a reasonable and approrpriate amount of time to offer), then you can dicard their items.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.