1940 Hudson barn car in Vermont

I'd be a little leery about that "bought the house and the car came with it!" part. I'm dealing with a similiar deal at my house. P.O. left $60K worth of his customer's parts and pieces that I can not legally claim as abandoned. Now I'm storing a full shop bay worth of stuff. I have to wait for the P.O. to come around and pick this stuff up and deal it out to the rightful owners. BUT, he stole all the lights and 220V circuits out of the shop before he left, so he's got to bring that stuff back before I'll let him on the property to pick up the other stuff. You can guess how excited he is to do that. It's been 5 months now.

It's a clusterfudge, I tell ya. Clusterfudge.

I'd be asking to see the paperwork on the house showing without a doubt that the car was included, and make the seller retrieve the title.

hornet53 wrote:

I'd be a little leery about that "bought the house and the car came with it!" part. I'm dealing with a similiar deal at my house. P.O. left $60K worth of his customer's parts and pieces that I can not legally claim as abandoned. Now I'm storing a full shop bay worth of stuff. I have to wait for the P.O. to come around and pick this stuff up and deal it out to the rightful owners. BUT, he stole all the lights and 220V circuits out of the shop before he left, so he's got to bring that stuff back before I'll let him on the property to pick up the other stuff. You can guess how excited he is to do that. It's been 5 months now.

It's a clusterfudge, I tell ya. Clusterfudge.

I'd be asking to see the paperwork on the house showing without a doubt that the car was included, and make the seller retrieve the title.

Check legal and see if you can post a notice in the newspaper to the effect that is 30 days (or whatever) owners of the parts pick-up or you sell.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Any good stuff?

Oh yeah! All the high dollar stuff is 2nd gen Corvette. Chromed out GM Performance RamJet small block with a Procharger hanging off it. Chromed Keisler (sp?) 5-speed sitting on the floor next to it. Frame, wheels, tires, door panels, steering column, etc, etc. Plus the original Vette 327 complete pan to intake. I wish I could keep some of it, the OG 327 would be perfect for my BelAir. The rest I would sell and put the money into the shop.

hudsontech wrote:

Check legal and see if you can post a notice in the newspaper to the effect that is 30 days (or whatever) owners of the parts pick-up or you sell.

I have spoken to the owners of all the stuff in there, I even have their phone numbers in my phone! The problem is, I can't give it to them myself, because I don't know anything other than some names. They have to get the former owner of the property to come pick this stuff up for them. All this according to the Sheriff's Dept. It is considered Lost Property at this point.

I could've been a real punk about it and thrown it all out on the street, I guess, but these guys are car guys like me. If I paid some dude $11K to build me a 1st gen Camaro and he called a year later and said, "I'm losing the house, come get all your parts.", and I went over and had to pick up the same parts I took to him (not a complete car), I would expect a little sympathy from other car guys. That's why I'm storing this stuff. The problem isn't that they aren't willing to come get it, it's the loser that used to live there. He owes me shop lights and 220V circuits, and thinks he can wait me out.

Mike (WA) wrote:

Every state has an abandoned property statute- you need to spend 50 bucks on a lawyer and get a strategy figured out. I assume the parts are worth more than the electrical stuff he owes you, so you should have enough leverage to make him square up.

The problem lies in the fact that he does not own the parts he left behind. They belong to his customers. This disqualifies them from being classified as "abandoned". They are considered "lost", and as I have had contact with who I assume are the legal owners of the property left behind, I can't claim them as mine. Henceforth, I can not legally hold these parts hostage to get MY property (lights, wiring) returned. However, I have decided to not let the PO on the property unless he returns my stuff, and he can't collect his customer's part without being allowed on my property.
It would have been much more simple if he did own these parts! Abandoned sucka! All mine now! But sadly, this is not the case.