# What legal rights do you have to keep something mistakenly delivered to you?(LONG) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422 "2015-12-04T16:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/1 "2015-12-04T16:46:31Z")
This was something that happened over a decade ago but always wondered about: While I was an assistant manager at a big box store I oversaw the home delivery team. Our driver and helper had returned from making deliveries for the day when a customer called and wondered where their bigscreen tv was. I checked the paperwork from the day and found that it had been delivered and signed for that day as scheduled. To make a long story short, after talking to the delivery team and the customer it turns out that the driver seeing the address listed as eg.1110 W Lansing, took it to 1110 W Lansing Ave instead of the customer’s 1110 W Lansing Court. The delivery team remembered the house. A lady answered the door, they said “we’re here to deliver your TV”, she said “okay”. They took it in, put it where she wanted it, she signed (scribbled) her name, and they left. Since we had no contact info for who this person was the delivery team ran back to her home. Her husband was also home by that time. They refused to give the tv back. When they asked her why she accepted delivery on something she never purchased she claimed “I had no idea if it was something my husband had bought.” The husband’s comments were “Too bad, your mistake, we’re keeping it.” I ended up driving out there myself but this time they wouldn’t even answer the door. I saw them inside, they saw me outside, and they just ignored me. So, I called the police department and had an officer meet me out there. This time they weren’t home and the house was dark. The cop went to a side window, shined his flashlight inside, and called me over to verify if that was the tv in their living room. Yep. He told me there probably wasn’t much we could do about it legally but he’d come back tomorrow to talk with them and try to “convince” them to give it back. I got a call the next day from the cop who said we had 30 minutes to come get the tv. I rode with the driver and when we got there the cop was gone. They let us take the tv but swore and cursed us up and down the whole time. So was the cop right? If these people really stood their ground and refused to give it back would we have been out of luck? Would the cop’s hands have been tied? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/2 "2015-12-04T16:58:45Z")
You’d have to sue them, and presumably you’d win. It would take time, but there isn’t any quicker legal way of taking stuff away from someone. Disclaimer: not legal advice, not your lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/3 "2015-12-04T17:41:54Z")
From the [Federal Trade Comission’s website](http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise) > [@](#): > > Here are some questions and answers about dealing with unordered merchandise. > Q. Am I obligated to return or pay for merchandise I never ordered? > > A. No. If you receive merchandise that you didn’t order, you have a legal right to keep it as a free gift. > Q. Must I notify the seller if I keep unordered merchandise without paying for it? > > A. You have no legal obligation to notify the seller. However, it is a good idea to write a letter to the company stating that you didn’t order the item and, therefore, you have a legal right to keep it for free. This may discourage the seller from sending you bills or dunning notices, or it may help clear up an honest error. Send your letter by certified mail. Keep the return receipt and a copy of the letter for your records. You may need it later. > Q. What should I do if the unordered merchandise I received was the result of an honest shipping error? > > A. Write the seller and offer to return the merchandise, provided the seller pays for postage and handling. Give the seller a specific and reasonable amount of time (say 30 days) to pick up the merchandise or arrange to have it returned at no expense to you. Tell the seller that you reserve the right to keep the merchandise or dispose of it after the specified time has passed. Basically the TV was theirs if they chose to keep it. Not sure if the cop used an appeal to the couple’s better nature or intimidation, my guess would be the latter, although it would be an empty threat on charges of keeping the item. Odds are he’d be able to ding them for something else if they had dug in. Your car is parked facing the wrong way on the street, here’s a ticket for that. Your house number isn’t visible from the street, I’ll let code enforcement know… Basically if you get on the wrong side of a cop they can write you all kinds of nuisance tickets. Thanks, Steven ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/4 "2015-12-04T17:49:41Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > From the [Federal Trade Comission’s website](http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise)Basically the TV was theirs if they chose to keep it. Not sure if the cop used an appeal to the couple’s better nature or intimidation, my guess would be the latter, although it would be an empty threat on charges of keeping the item. Odds are he’d be able to ding them for something else if they had dug in. Your car is parked facing the wrong way on the street, here’s a ticket for that. Your house number isn’t visible from the street, I’ll let code enforcement know… Basically if you get on the wrong side of a cop they can write you all kinds of nuisance tickets. > > Thanks, > Steven That applies when the item is mailed. If the women signed for the TV she was actively taking position of something that was not hers. I believe she would be liable just as if she bought it from a door to door salesman. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/5 "2015-12-04T17:50:12Z")
Unless I am mistaken, the law on unordered merchandise that the FTC site’s info is based on is 39 USC § 3009, which ony applies to things sent through the US Mail. Edit: or what **sitchensis** just said. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/6 "2015-12-04T17:58:11Z")
FWIW, the FTC rules were to protect people from companies that sent stuff to them without authorization, and then billed (outrageous prices, usually) them for the unordered merchandise. Also FWIW, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the couple that was forced to return their “free” TV, even if it turns out that legally they didn’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/7 "2015-12-05T23:20:22Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > That applies when the item is mailed. If the women signed for the TV she was actively taking position of something that was not hers. I believe she would be liable just as if she bought it from a door to door salesman. I’m going with this. 1. The FTC article said that, if something is delivered by mistake, well…it’s not as clear as it may be. It says for the receiver to notify the sender to pick it up, which, in this case, the deliverer had done. 2. The signer is signing something that is for somebody else; it is a receipt for a delivery of a TV which had been paid for by somebody else, and, addressed to somebody else, I’m assuming. I think that this would be accepting something under false pretenses, or fraud, perhaps. (BTW, wouldn’t the delivery person have at least said “Mrs. X?”) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/8 "2015-12-05T23:51:23Z")
[Here](http://www.thecomplainingcow.co.uk/all-you-need-to-know-about-unsolicited-goods/) are the rules for the UK. > [@](#): > > You are under no legal obligation to contact the trader and can keep the goods. True unsolicited goods are rare these days. _However_, if you have been sent items by mistake, such as a duplicate order, additional items or things meant for someone else you should contact the company and request that they come and collect the goods. There should be no cost or inconvenience to you and you should give the company a deadline within which it should collect the item(s). Make sure that you do this in writing with proof of postage/read receipt email so that you have a record if you dispose/keep/sell the item. Tell them that you are giving them 14 days in which they can contact you and arrange collection or you will dispose of the goods. State also that you will keep the goods/dispose of them if you are not sent a return postage label/packaging or arrangement for a courier. Keep this correspondence evidence. > > You must try to do everything to return the item if it falls into any of the other categories above. Do note: > [@](#): > > Should you receive a request for payment from a trader for unsolicited goods it has committed a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. You can report them to Trading Standards. Bear in mind that if you have chosen to keep an item sent to you in error and the company can prove it was sent in error e.g. from a screen shot of the wrong code being put into the system then the company has not committed an offence and you will have to pay for the item. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/9 "2015-12-06T21:55:54Z")
The USPS regulations also apply only to unsolicited items **addressed to you**. If you open and keep (instead of returning) something delivered to you but addressed to someone else (e.g. because the mail carrier put it in the wrong box) _you’re_ committing a crime. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/10 "2015-12-07T18:07:43Z")
> [@andrewm](#): > > The USPS regulations also apply only to unsolicited items **addressed to you**. If you open and keep (instead of returning) something delivered to you but addressed to someone else (e.g. because the mail carrier put it in the wrong box) _you’re_ committing a crime. Several years ago I got on some godawful mailing list for romance novels. Included in each batch was a wine goblet. I kept the goblet and donated the books to the library. On another note, for a long time I was a member of the Stephen King Library, where they ship you his latest book for $18.18. After twenty odd years, I got a Kindle for Christmas and cancelled the membership (by mail or email, I can’t remember. But I did send a cancellation.) They kept sending me books. I paid for _Revival_ and sent them another cancellation notice. They sent me _Finders Keepers_ and I refused to pay for it, reminding them I had cancelled, that I was allowed to keep anything sent to me via US mail, and by all means, if they wanted to keep sending me gifts I would keep accepting them. That ended that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/11 "2015-12-07T22:10:25Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > From the [Federal Trade Comission’s website](http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise)Basically the TV was theirs if they chose to keep it. No. Those are only to protect dudes from companies that sent stuff to\* them\* without authorization. Not a mistake in delivery. If you know it’s a mistake in delivery (you name is not on it is a big clue) then it’s stealing to keep it. Is your name on it and you didnt order it? Then hold on to it (then keep or toss after a decent interval) or return it. But if your name is not on it, you can NOT keep it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/12 "2015-12-07T22:11:28Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > They sent me _Finders Keepers_ and I refused to pay for it, reminding them I had cancelled, that I was allowed to keep anything sent to me via US mail, and by all means, if they wanted to keep sending me gifts I would keep accepting them. That ended that. Yes, but your name was on those packages, yes? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/13 "2015-12-07T22:13:07Z")
> [@andrewm](#): > > The USPS regulations also apply only to unsolicited items **addressed to you**. If you open and keep (instead of returning) something delivered to you but addressed to someone else (e.g. because the mail carrier put it in the wrong box) _you’re_ committing a crime. Right. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/14 "2015-12-07T22:15:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, but your name was on those packages, yes? IIRC, yes. Knowing me (and I know me pretty well) I would have sent a misaddressed package to the post office. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/15 "2015-12-07T22:22:00Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > IIRC, yes. Knowing me (and I know me pretty well) I would have sent a misaddressed package to the post office. Very correct. Your name= yours. Not your name= not yours. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/16 "2015-12-07T22:38:53Z")
So, does the delivery team now say,“We’re here to deliver the TV for Mr. Customer. Can you sign for Mr. Customer?” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/17 "2015-12-07T22:41:44Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > So, does the delivery team now say,“We’re here to deliver the TV for Mr. Customer. Can you sign for Mr. Customer?” Unless they know you, generally- but the name is on the address label/packing slip. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/18 "2015-12-08T00:33:28Z")
The moral thing was certainly to return it, but I"m not so sure it’s as cut & dried that it wasn’t addressed to them. It was addressed to their address, it just so happened there was someone else with the same address, due to sloppy work on the part of the shipper, leaving off the Ave/Ct from the 1110 W Lansing address. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/19 "2015-12-08T19:44:19Z")
Now that I’ve thought about it for awhile, I suspect that with the Ave/Ct thing in place, it can’t have been the first thing that was misdelivered between the two addresses. Not that I had any sympathy for them trying to hold on to it in the first place. ‘I’m doing it because I legally can’ just doesn’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422/20 "2015-12-08T22:25:49Z")
I suspect this is more a matter of state law than Federal, but [here’s another cite saying it’s the delivery company who is on the hook for misdelivered items](http://definitions.uslegal.com/m/misdelivery/), not the recipient. > [@](#): > > Misdelivery occurs when the party in possession of the cargo gives it to one not entitled to receive it. [Morse Electro Products Corp. v. S.S. Great Peace, 437 F. Supp. 474, 482 (D.N.J. 1977)] > A misdelivery of property by any bailee, to a person unauthorized to receive, is a conversion rendering the bailee liable in trover, without regard to the question of care or negligence. “Where there is a misdelivery by a carrier, the question of care or negligence cannot arise; that he is absolutely liable.” [Bush v. St. Louis, K. C. & N. R. Co., 3 Mo. App. 62, 72 (Mo. Ct. App. 1876)]. Basically it says the delivery company wrongfully took the property and disposed of it improperly, therefore they have to make it right(that’s what the “bailee liable in trover” bit means). The actual recipient doesn’t factor into it. I’m not saying people who keep misdelivered items are good people or right to do so, but barring a lower-level law which makes knowingly taking possession of misdelivered goods illegal, they haven’t committed a crime. [Arizona has this clause in their definition of theft](http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/13/01802.htm) which MIGHT make it illegal, depending on if you tried to contact the intended recipient or misrepresented yourself to complete the delivery process. > [@](#): > > A. A person commits theft if, without lawful authority, the person knowingly: > > … > > 1. Comes into control of lost, mislaid or misdelivered property of another under circumstances providing means of inquiry as to the true owner and appropriates such property to the person’s own or another’s use without reasonable efforts to notify the true owner; Enjoy, Steven [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-legal-rights-do-you-have-to-keep-something-mistakenly-delivered-to-you-long/739422.md?page=2)