If someone leaves their personal property in your home for more than 90 days is it then considered yours?
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If someone leaves their personal property in your home for more than 90 days is it then considered yours?
I have a friend that stored her washer and dryer in my garage. It now has been 4
months and she still has not picked them up, she owes me 500 on a personal loan
and has not paid. I have requested several times by text for her to get her
washer and dryer out and to pay me the loan back. No longer friends. She says she
is going to list the washer and dryer online for sell and give my address. I am a
single mom and do not want strangers at my home. I wanted to know at what point
does the property become mine. Please help, what can I do?
Greensboro, North Carolina
Asked on February 19, 2018 under Real Estate Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
It never becomes yours: leaving property at another's home does not give you the right to it, and nor does that person owing you money.
But you also don't need to allow her to keep storing it there or allow anyone to come to your home. You are under no legal obligation to store another's property.
Tell your "friend" in writing, sent some way that you can prove delivery, that under no circumstances may she use your address in an ads or send any buyers to your home--that if she does (1) you will NOT speak to or interact with the buyers and (2) you will file a police report against her for harassment. In the letter, also tell your "friend" that she has ten (10) business days to pick up the washer and dryer or you will leave them outside as garbage. (A good idea is to email and text, as an attachment, the letter as well as certified mail, to make sure she gets it right away.) In the letter, also relate the history of how long she was left the items there and your attempts to get her to pick them up.
Finally, you can tell her that if she does not repay the $500, you will sue her in small claims court--that is how you legally get money which another owes you.
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