Short question: At what point to items left in my house become my
property to dispose with as I wish?

Background:
I live in Minnesota.  I was recently in a situation similar to the one
discussed here: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=32370
in that I kicked my previous live-in partner out of the house.  Though
we moved in together, my name is the only one on the mortgage for the
house, and my ex never paid rent, utilities, etc.  We were never
married (common-law or otherwise) nor was there ever a landlord/tenant
relationship between us (basically, as discussed in the question
above, he was an extended "house guest").

Now that he is out of the house (out of the state now from what I
understand) I would like to know what I can do with a number of items
that are technically "his" but are taking up room in my house.  Many
of the items that he might consider to be "his" were actually
purchased by me, and I have no qualms about reclaiming them.  However,
there are some items of value that were his before our relationship,
or that he purchased during the relationship.

I have given him multiple opportunities to come to the house to claim
his items, and I am now fairly confident that he will not be
retrieving them any time soon (he has no means of transportation, and
has alienated all of our mutual friends within about 200 miles of
here, and therefore they will not help him).  I would like to reclaim
the space that these items are using.  Ideally, I would like to
sell/give away the items that have value, and toss the rest.

I am worried that if I do that he will have legal recourse to come
after me (or the people who I give items to) for the value of the items.

Since it's been about 6 months since he was last living here, are the
items now "mine"? Is there some way that I can officially provide him
notice that he has until X date to reclaim the items before I consider
them mine?

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 31 Mar 2006 15:41 PST

caprice78...

Although there was never a landlord/tenant relationship, the simplest
and wisest move, short of retaining legal counsel, would seem to me
to simply comply with the landlord/tenant policies which apply to the
situation, which are designed to protect the rights of all parties.

The pertinent section of the Minnesota Landlord/Tenant Act is:

'504B.271 Tenant's personal property remaining in premises', which
is detailed on this page from ohiolandlordtenant.com:
http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/504B.271.html

Violations of 504B.271 which might apply can be found on this
page regarding a case from the MN Attorney General's website:

"A. Failure to Hold Home [property] for 60 Days.
[...]
 B. Failure to Notify Former Tenant Prior to Resale. 
[...]
 C. Failure to Pay Proceeds or Account to Resident After the Sale.
    ...[failure] to pay to the resident the proceeds of the sale
    or provide a written statement showing the specific reason for
    withholding any portions thereof."
http://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/ConsumerProtection/041108GreenwoodComplaint.htm

Search the page for 504B.271 or the text above for the pertinent
section.

In light of the above and the circumstances you've described, I
think you'd be well within your legal rights to give him notice
via certified mail that he can either reclaim his property or you
will be selling (or reclaiming) them within 60 days and using the
proceeds to reimburse yourself for the cost of 8 months storage.

To be exacting, you could send a list of the inventory, record
the proceeds for each item from its sale, and send him notice
of the amount(s) you deducted (or reclaimed) for the costs of
maintaining and storing the property.

I think it would also be within reason to charge him the going
rate for a self-storage locker in your area, of a size adequate
to hold the property, if that suits your purposes.

Obviously, this is not legal advice, and doesn't cost as much
as legal advice, but it seems to me to be in keeping with the
principles of a law intended to protect the rights of the 
parties involved in a more formal arrangement, and to be 
suitable for your situation.

I won't post this as a formal answer without your agreement,
so let me know what you think...

sublime1-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 31 Mar 2006 15:59 PST

P.S.

See this page, from the MN Attorney General's site, for a 
more elaborate discussion Landlord/Tenant Rights and 
Responsiblities - especially the Section 32 on the topic of
'ABANDONED PROPERTY':

"Sixty days after the landlord has either received a notice
 of abandonment, or it has become reasonably apparent that
 the unit has been abandoned, the landlord may sell or get
 rid of the property in whatever way the landlord wishes.
 The landlord must make a reasonable effort, however, to
 contact the tenant at least two weeks before the sale of
 the items, to let the tenant know they are being sold or
 disposed of. The landlord must do this either by personally
 giving the tenant a written notice of the sale or by sending
 the notice by certified mail (return receipt requested) to
 the tenant?s last known address or likely living quarters if
 that is known by the landlord."
More on the page:
http://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/housing/LT/LT_4.htm

So I would make that certified letter a 2-weeks notice, after
which, if you receive no reply affirming an intention to reclaim
the propery, you can sell the property, following the other 
guidelines about notification of the proceeds and the amounts
deducted from the proceeds or reclaimed in property.

If that's good enough to satisfy the formality of a landlord/tenant
relationship, it seems fine to satisfy your more informal arrangement,
and very likely to hold up in court, should it come to that later.

---

Clarification of Question by caprice78-ga on 01 Apr 2006 09:13 PST

Thanks sublime1 and perhaps.

The rules regarding "abandoned" property are exactly what I was
looking for.  I knew I wasn't going to be getting official legal
advice here, but knowing what questions to ask if I _do_ bring a
lawyer into this will save me money.

sublime1, please feel free to make this answer formal - this has
really helped and I hope it will help others.

caprice78...

Thanks very much for acknowledging my input as the answer.
I'll repost it here for the sake of future readers.

---------------------------------------------------------

Although there was never a landlord/tenant relationship, the simplest
and wisest move, short of retaining legal counsel, would seem to me
to simply comply with the landlord/tenant policies which apply to the
situation, which are designed to protect the rights of all parties.

The pertinent section of the Minnesota Landlord/Tenant Act is:

'504B.271 Tenant's personal property remaining in premises', which
is detailed on this page from ohiolandlordtenant.com:
http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/504B.271.html

Violations of 504B.271 which might apply can be found on this
page regarding a case from the MN Attorney General's website:

"A. Failure to Hold Home [property] for 60 Days.
[...]
 B. Failure to Notify Former Tenant Prior to Resale. 
[...]
 C. Failure to Pay Proceeds or Account to Resident After the Sale.
    ...[failure] to pay to the resident the proceeds of the sale
    or provide a written statement showing the specific reason for
    withholding any portions thereof."
http://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/ConsumerProtection/041108GreenwoodComplaint.htm

Search the page for 504B.271 or the text above for the pertinent
section.

In light of the above and the circumstances you've described, I
think you'd be well within your legal rights to give him notice
via certified mail that he can either reclaim his property or you
will be selling (or reclaiming) them within 60 days and using the
proceeds to reimburse yourself for the cost of 8 months storage.

To be exacting, you could send a list of the inventory, record
the proceeds for each item from its sale, and send him notice
of the amount(s) you deducted (or reclaimed) for the costs of
maintaining and storing the property.

I think it would also be within reason to charge him the going
rate for a self-storage locker in your area, of a size adequate
to hold the property, if that suits your purposes.

Obviously, this is not legal advice, and doesn't cost as much
as legal advice, but it seems to me to be in keeping with the
principles of a law intended to protect the rights of the 
parties involved in a more formal arrangement, and to be 
suitable for your situation.

---

Also, see this page, from the MN Attorney General's site,
for a more elaborate discussion of Landlord/Tenant Rights and 
Responsiblities - especially the Section 32 on the topic of
'ABANDONED PROPERTY':

"Sixty days after the landlord has either received a notice
 of abandonment, or it has become reasonably apparent that
 the unit has been abandoned, the landlord may sell or get
 rid of the property in whatever way the landlord wishes.
 The landlord must make a reasonable effort, however, to
 contact the tenant at least two weeks before the sale of
 the items, to let the tenant know they are being sold or
 disposed of. The landlord must do this either by personally
 giving the tenant a written notice of the sale or by sending
 the notice by certified mail (return receipt requested) to
 the tenant?s last known address or likely living quarters if
 that is known by the landlord."
More on the page:
http://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/housing/LT/LT_4.htm

So I would make that certified letter a 2-weeks notice, after
which, if you receive no reply affirming an intention to reclaim
the propery, you can sell the property, following the other 
guidelines about notification of the proceeds and the amounts
deducted from the proceeds or reclaimed in property.

If that's good enough to satisfy the formality of a landlord/tenant
relationship, it seems fine to satisfy your more informal arrangement,
and very likely to hold up in court, should it come to that later.

Best regards...

sublime1-ga


Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google searches outlined below.

Searches done, via Google:

landlord "unclaimed property"
://www.google.com/search?q=landlord+%22unclaimed+property%22

minnesota landlord "unclaimed property"
://www.google.com/search?q=minnesota+landlord+%22unclaimed+property%22

minnesota landlord "abandoned property"
://www.google.com/search?q=minnesota+landlord+%22abandoned+property%22

"Landlord Tenant Act" 504B.271
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Landlord+Tenant+Act%22+504B.271

Instead of considering the property to be yours, you would consider
the property abandoned.  The particulars will depend on Minnesota law,
so I can't go any further...

Hope this little refinement helps.