I live in an apartment in Ontario, with my SO. Up until last November we also had another roommate, however that arrangement turned out badly and he voluntarily left. His name was removed from the lease, all the expenses (which we paid anyways) were transfered to our names in the cases when they were under his name, and the apartment is now completely ours. There are, AFAIK, no legal problems with the way in which he left (the superintendent let him out of the lease without any arguments).
When he left, however, he left some things behind, none of which we’d like to keep, with the possible exception of a small emergency fire extinguisher. All of these things are in a bag, in our spare room. We did not notify him that he had left things behind, primarily because at the time we were on his case about having stolen things from us, which have since been returned. I would assume that he knows he doesn’t have these things, since they include a winter jacket and a rain coat, along with other miscellaneous items.
He left November 23rd, so it has now been over 5 months, and he has not asked for these items, or, in fact, contacted us at all since then. Are we allowed to legally throw these things out? Do things have to be kept a certain amount of time before we can be sure that he won’t be back for them? I do not trust this man at all, and wouldn’t put it beyond him to try and cause us problems, so we’d like to be certain that we CAN throw these things out and be in the right.
I’m sure some Doper out there must be familiar enough with things like this to be able to tell me what to do!
Since you got your stuff back, why not give him his stuff back? If you can’t (or won’t), then I’d second Mr. Blue Sky’s suggestion of donating it to a charity. IANAL, but I’d say that five months is long enough that if you got rid of it and he got on your case that you could argue he had either abandoned his property or left it as a gift for you.
Ìt’s not that I wouldn’t give it back to him, but rather that he has made no effort to reclaim his things, and I am not about to do all the legwork for him. Perhaps that’s petty, but I don’t have a direct contact for him, I don’t go to the same school, and even if I did, trying to find him there would me more of a nightmare than a winter jacket and a mouldy towel are worth. I wouldn’t donate this to Goodwill, simply because this stuff is in horrible condition. I just want it out of my house.
I just looked at the email that I had sent him back in november (on an account that now bounces) and I had in fact mentionned that he had left all his food in the fridge and there were a few other things of his, so I had notified him at the time. We even kept the food in the fridge for an extra week in case he’d be back. Things ended pretty badly, and I’m pretty sure he has no intention of ever speaking to us again, which is fine by me.
I just don’t want to have more problems with him in the future.
SO…the guy had a towel that he used for six months after showering…NEVER washed it…it’s been festering in a plastic bag since November…would you actually buy that on ebay!!!
Is it a case of not being able to contact him, or not wanting to contact him? There’s a huge difference. If you can resolve this with a phone call, do it. Otherwise, put the bag out on the curb on trash day.
Probably not a legal obligation, but it’s the decent thing to do. Let me point out that the guy left voluntarily, and that deadbeat housemates who don’t leave voluntarily are in a position to make your life hell. Give the guy a call.
Christ, just send him an e-amil detailing what stuff of his is still in the house and ask him if he would like it back, and if he doesn’t what should be done with it.
In a real-world response, after having dealt with something like this, I can honestly say that you should “let sleeping dogs lie”. There is almost certainly a statute of limitations on something like this, and by raising the question of “whether he wants it back” is only inciting loss to yourself.
Better to let him forget about it and sell what you don’t want. It’s his loss, after all . . .
If I read the OP correctly, a legal question was asked, which should (ironically) have a factual, legal answer. They were not requesting opinions on what they should do with the junk, this isn’t IMHO.
“The law” in this case is whatever any given small claims court judge says it is, and they don’t agree with each other or respect each other’s precedents. I’m just passing on the kind of questions a jusdge once asked me in similar circumstances. IANAL, but I did sue a former housemate once. In cases like this, small claims judges favor whoever isn’t acting like a jerk.
[pdf link] - this seems to indicate that in Ontario, a landlord can take your property and do anything with it 30 days after giving notice. You’re well past that deadline, though you’re also not a landlord, and perhaps haven’t given specific notice. If you really wanted to cover your ass, you could try to contact this guy again and tell him he’s got 30 days to get his stuff or else.
Hmmm. You’re in Canada, so I would contact the cops in your area & ask them what the law is. The opinions I see posted here don’t agree with what I see on Judge Judy type programs for the USA.