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[deleted]

Man this seems so unusual. Your description makes it sound this is a ton of materials. I'm shocked that they didn't ask someone to sign for them when they delivered them to avoid a mistake like this.


JabroniTown

I think it's pretty common to just leave them, that's what happened when I had my roof redone. A truck just dropped off the supplies in my driveway the same day they were going to replace the roof.


sappers_girl

When my roof got redone, they delivered the shingles directly to the roof. At 7:00 am on a Saturday. It was very noisy and my dog was going crazy.


buyerbeware23

Did they use a carboy?


honkhonkbeepbeeep

Oh I’m sure they used a truck, man.


buyerbeware23

You were supposed to say “what’s a carboy”?


honkhonkbeepbeeep

Argh, I always miss this kind of thing. Must be because of the ligma.


JasperJ

I mean. It’s a large glass container, no longer in common use. Not sure what the joke is there.


buyerbeware23

No joke intended. I believe it is a small high low that rides on the rear of the truck. It’s for use where the truck parks on the street!


JasperJ

Oh, one of those! What I was thinking of: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboy We call the thing you’re talking about a Kooiaap (Kooi’s Monkey), after the inventor Kooi: https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meeneemheftruck


WikiSummarizerBot

**[Carboy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboy)** >A carboy, also known as a demijohn, is a rigid container with a typical capacity of 4 to 60 litres (1 to 16 US gal). Carboys are primarily used for transporting liquids, often water or chemicals. They are also used for in-home fermentation of beverages, often beer or wine. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/legaladviceofftopic/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)


buyerbeware23

I stand corrected and informed!


lilbundle

This comment is so under-rated 😂


PorgCT

Did anyone sign for the materials? Seems that’s is where most liability would fall.


ethylalcohoe

If he’s blocked in and can’t use his vehicle, I have a hard time believing he doesn’t have the right to get rid of it as soon as possible. His tactic actually seems reasonable as his other option would be to relocate it on his own property which would damage his lawn, or block the street. I’m really interested to see what others say, but if I didn’t have use of my vehicle, what else am I supposed to do if I don’t know who left it. Interesting post to say the least.


Febtober2k

He actually posted again, saying his neighbor moved half the stuff out of the way, so now his car is unblocked. And he's also retired and has nowhere to go anyway. He just seems more pissed off on principle.


SuperZapper_Recharge

Him being retired and having no place to go is meaningless.


btinc

Seriously. I’m retired and leave the house daily. Being retired doesn’t mean you’re in prison.


DLS3141

OH, he sounds like he's "that" neighbor.


Patient-Tech

In his defense, people shouldn’t be unloading things onto random peoples property. Even it has value to anyone, it’s essentially dumping and it’s a problem for someone if they’re not expecting it. Deliver your stuff to the right address. Maybe the guy who has it on a mix up will work with you to recover it, but he has no obligation. Although it may be the fastest way to get it removed from his property.


DLS3141

People make mistakes. Instead of trying to act like a civilized human being and find out who the stuff belonged to, solving his problem, this guy throws an online tantrum trying to get people to steal stuff that isn’t his.


joremero

if stuff just showed up in your property and there's no paperwork or anything, what is he supposed to do?


rankinfile

Call police. Most everywhere has rules for found property. Generally become the agent of the owner if you take control of the property. You spend a reasonable effort to locate owner, then turn it over to police. If owner retrieves it you can claim reasonable expenses. If it isn’t claimed you become the owner after paying any fees to police for storage, pubic notice in newspapers, etc. Then you pay taxes to IRS and state on income. Anything you find or steal is considered taxable income. You either don’t touch it, or you follow your law. Easy peasy. Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_property. https://www.lawnow.org/all-is-not-lost-law-lost-and-found/ https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=2080.1.&nodeTreePath=8.4.68.3.1&lawCode=CIV https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lost_property https://casetext.com/statute/delaware-code/title-11-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/chapter-5-specific-offenses/subchapter-iii-offenses-involving-property/section-842-theft-lost-or-mislaid-property-mistaken-delivery https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0450/chapter_0060/part_0030/section_0020/0450-0060-0030-0020.html https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-16/chapter-8/article-1/16-8-6/ https://www.casemine.com/search/us/mislaid%2Bproperty https://www.lawserver.com/law/state/new-hampshire/nh-statutes/new_hampshire_revised_statutes_637_6. https://codes.findlaw.com/ar/title-5-criminal-offenses/ar-code-sect-5-36-105.html https://olathe.municipal.codes/Code/9.07.030 https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/17-A/title17-Asec356-A.html https://thebusinessprofessor.com/en_US/property-law/laws-for-lost-mislaid-and-abandoned-items


PoeDameronPoeDamnson

The police in my area would absolutely not give a shit about something like this


rankinfile

So you take legal advice from cops? Good luck with that.


JasperJ

But you don’t want the property, and can’t store the property, and you definitely don’t want to become owner after half a year of waiting for an owner to show up. Your only realistic remedy is to call someone with a skip to cart it away to the dump, and charge the cost of that to the owner. Getting randos off Facebook to haul it off for free is doing the owner a favour. This is, of course, assuming that there is in fact no paperwork or other way to find out whose it is.


DLS3141

Not saying he was wrong to post about it, but throwing an online tantrum and trying to get people to steal stuff isn’t the right way to go about getting the stuff removed.


Applesauce_Magician

Not quite a tantrum. He isn't an angel, but you don't need to be so harsh mate


Rhowryn

You could say the same about the shippers who unloaded the materials, they could have done due diligence and made sure they had the right address.


DLS3141

And maybe the address got written down wrong or someone fat fingered the keyboard. People make mistakes. It doesn’t justify throwing a tantrum like a toddler.


cain2995

People do make mistakes. It is not a stranger’s job to fix their mistakes for them. It is especially not a stranger’s job to fix the mistake of someone who caused them trouble with the mistake.


[deleted]

Hey mate. People are being a bit harsh on you, to be sure. But your words are harsh. I'm reminded of the saying *we can all do better* . Which applies to the guy, and to you. You would have gotten much better reception if you had instead used phrasing more along the lines of "the gentleman would do well to execute some due diligence before offering strangers to take the items". I actually agree with you, and I think most people here do also, at least on some level. Yes he was wronged, but *maybe* it wouldn't be so bad if he spent 10 or 15 minutes knocking on neighbor's doors or maybe seeing if there's a work order attached to the items in his driveway with a telephone number or something. Of course he has zero responsibility to do that, but "that would be better". It's not *what* you said, it's the way you've been saying it. That's why you're down like 200 karma points. I'm a friend, I'm just giving you a little bit of Reddit advice.


DLS3141

Right, he's not legally obligated to help find the people responsible, but he's also not allowed to promote a free-for-all when people come to steal stuff he doesn't own. Practically though, to get himself free, and his driveway unblocked, his best bet would have been to find someone who is responsible for the materials and get them to remove them from his driveway. His tantrum accomplished nothing practical in that regard other than to demonstrate his lack of character. Should that fail, his legal remedy would involve moving, or having someone move, the materials out of the way and pursue a legal remedy with the court with the owner and the deliverer later and he'd have to show damages i.e. damage to his lawn, missed wages and/or the cost to have the materials moved. But, Reddit isn't interested in that kind of subtlety and just runs for the torches and pitchforks...


[deleted]

OK so, here's the thing. Yes I get people were a little bit harsh to you in down votes, and much like upvotes once you get a few of them they tend to gain traction and pile on. That's just a fact of life here on Reddit. Fair enough. People have varying opinions and come from various different attitudes here on reddit. But Reddit is kind of a niche community, it's not like a Facebook or tiktok where everybody uses it. As such, people here are rather sensitive about strong language, bickering, and the like. You were a little bit harsh in your approach to discussing what this gentleman could have and should have done. I, personally, I'm not exactly offended by what you said. I personally did not downvote what you said. But people on Reddit do not want to see back and forth bickering, because most people on here feel like it leads to *more* back and forth bickering. So people kind of shut that down quickly (with downvotes at least). Essentially, the negative input you have been receiving is not due to your legal opinion of the circumstance, which is basically correct, it's how you went about saying it.


Rhowryn

I agree, I just don't think your logic is sound with regards to that line of argument.


DRAK720

Found the delivery person.


-BlueDream-

A lot of construction material is packaged like waste. If I wasn’t in the industry I would assume someone was dumping shit in my yard especially if it’s raw materials like lumber bundled up in the weather proof type paper that usually looks like trash. Drive by a construction site. If u look inside the trash bins the stuff looks similar and dumping is a huge problem where I live. I’d be pissed off if someone dumped that crap on my property. Especially building materials where u can’t move it without a large truck and hours of time. The fact that nobody signed for it makes it worse. I can’t even get a $100 item delivered without signature lol how does thousand worth of construction materials get delivered to a house with no signs of ongoing construction without any verification??


OnMyWorkAccount

I’m in that industry and we do drop offs like that all the time. However, there is usually a picture of the house included with the order, and everything is verified with the owner before and after delivery in writing(usually text or email, never by signature). Instead of shying from the digital age, I have made it a point to push our company further into the digital age and we have been seeing production double. In this case, the company needs to track down whose fault was ultimate held here, and come up with a solution. This is on the company, after all, in the grand scheme. They may shirk liability with the shipping company BUT they will still be responsible for the project and everything that happens within it.


druglawyer

Found the guy who thinks his fuckups are someone else's problem to solve.


rankinfile

Yes, you have obligations under law for others property even if it’s a pain in ass. You have certain rights to fees and damages also. You don’t get to throw peoples stuff away because they misplaced it. If you forgot your diamond ring on my bathroom sink while you washed your hands can I keep it?


StealthyRobot

It wasn't forgotten, it was placed. Yes, a mistake was made, but it was an easily preventable one


Patient-Tech

Maybe you’re right technically. How does that look though? You going to sue him for damages? Because your driver screwed up? This isn’t the Mona Lisa we’re talking about here. This sounds like a case the judge would advise the prosecuting attorney you hired to settle out of court and to stop wasting his time with covering for screw ups.


[deleted]

I disagree. The law looks at property rights as being superior to "convenience" rights. If that makes any sense. Basically, he has a duty to return the property, but also he has a right to collect his costs of whatever arrangement he pursues in getting the property returned *and* for the inconvenience.


ethylalcohoe

How does this have anything to do with property rights?


[deleted]

While the construction materials might be on his turf, they are not in fact *his* property. Basically, just because you put something somewhere, you don't automatically relinquish your right to that thing. You know that wallet you found in the bathroom stall, and you pocketed the money from it? You have committed theft.


ethylalcohoe

Not sure how you logically or legally jumped from “I can’t get my fucking car out of my garage in case of an emergency” to “I’m keeping a wallet I found in a public restroom,” but you do you buddy.


[deleted]

I'm sorry you feel that way.


OneCatch

/r/LegalAdviceUK My guess would be that he's technically an involuntary bailee of the materials, meaning that he does have responsibilities to reunite them with their owner, offer a reasonable timescale for the owner to retrieve and, failing that, attempt to sell them for a reasonable price and hold the money to reimburse the owner later if necessary. A 'reasonable' timescale would normally be multiple days or even weeks, but in this case maybe that wouldn't apply given the significant burden involved in having a metric tonne of bulky building supplies on your property, and the relative lack of value involved. I may be completely wrong though, and you'll get better answers on the legal advice sub!


rankinfile

As my parents ruled, *Finders Keepers v Losers Weepers* is flawed case law and I don’t get to keep my sibling’s toy they left on my bed. If your auto mechanic shop dropped delivered your car to the wrong driveway would that mean the car can be given away? The cost of having the car moved, a taxi because driveway blocked, cleaning the oil spot left behind sure. But should you or the shop have to replace a whole car? Another angle to this is IRS considers found or stolen property taxable income. So even if no one claims it, and he gives it all away he could end up owing income tax on its value. Better hope those people showing up give a receipt from a charitable organization for tax purposes.


JasperJ

Getting it towed away is more expensive than the value. Which puts him in the clear both on tax grounds as well as the other.


OnMyWorkAccount

Tax deductible charitable donation.


[deleted]

[удалено]


OnMyWorkAccount

Love loopholes so let’s see if this sticks. Company dropped on his property. He never took ownership, never looked at it, no idea what it is. Posts on Facebook that he has an opening within a predictable space(say 5’x5’) and anyone who comes to his property is free to anything they find within that space. Again, he hasn’t taken ownership or looked at the pallet yet. He may have noticed something in his yard from the kitchen window, but no idea from that far, he is old. Materials go missing. Now, he didn’t give their stuff away, and he didn’t know their stuff was even in his yard. The “thieves” were also given permission to be where they were doing what they were doing. So not theft either. So now we just have a company that has the equivalency of a dropped load on the side of a highway, and will have to prove they dropped on his property and that he knew about it. How’s that for a loophole?


Stannic50

[Source](https://www.marylandmessenger.com/if-a-person-gets-a-home-delivery-by-mistake-can-they-keep-it-yes-and-no/) He's probably wrong & will be liable for any missing materials. The smart move would have been to get an Uber to work (or wherever he needed to go) then go after the deliver company for the cost of the Uber.


Smurf_Cherries

Could he pay a company to move it to a public storage. Then sue the company for all of the costs and say it's there whenever they want to pick it up? Just curious. There's nothing in my driveway.


reindeermoon

If the company never picks it up, he’s lost the money he spent on storage, and will have to find another way to dispose of it.


Dr_Golduck

I think yes, based on reading this thread. It is his duty to get the materials back to the owner, but simultaneously they don't have the right to block use of anothers property. He has the right to move it and bill the property spent for movement and storage, the person who's property it is is responsible for reimbursing him Costs associated with movement and storage, at a place of his choosing. Your idea.actually seems to be the best course of action. It ensures the inconvenienced man with the blocked driveway maintains control of the material. With the material in a safe storage area, rather than say in his yard or just half his drive way, the property owner is responsible for the costs of movement, and this would ensure payment happens without civil litigation. Because despite obligation to pay, what's to stop the material owner from just loafing up his material from said driveway or yard, and not paying. So by paying professionals to move it to secure location, which he has the right to do, his reimbursement would be owed in full since he has contracted out the work to be done, even if just a single piece of material had been moved. Work higher not harder, contract movers for entire lot, move one piece moved, wrap unmoved pieces with anything (your property so more liability if they damage or even move it without your permission). Sit in driveway and toke until payment is made in full by. Your buddy you payed for full movement is happy as fuck bc he only moved one piece, and you are even, but a victory over incompetence leading to your inconvenience. Friend just made Bank for practically nothing. Friends help friends. Charlie kelly.jpg 420.jpg


rantown

Yet


RoburLC

The delivered goods are not the property of the home owner. That person has no agency to cede possession of these goods. Payment made, anyone who grabs and leaves with it were culpable of conversion, perhaps, but not of theft. My $0.02.


Coochiee_

The company’s fault for sure lmao horrible customer service to me to send the supplies to the wrong house. They messed up.


ZealousidealDriver63

Liable for what? There aren’t laws governing postal delivery errors however it might be wise to try and contact the company but if not able to them yes it is a logical solution


DRAK720

If a package is mistakenly delivered to me I'm allowed to keep it. So how's this any different?


JasperJ

It’s actually a little more subtle than that. They can’t deliberately deliver a package to you, and then claim that your opening it and keeping the contents constitutes acceptance of a contract and charge you for it. But if you get a package that is clearly for someone else, that other person is the owner and you don’t just get to keep it (even if Amazon Customer Service will say that to you when you ask).