Personal Property secured by hiding items in Apt. building air conditioning vent.

The legal question is really do you control and should you have an expectation that items placed into the HVAC system venting will remain in your control and custody. The answer is probably no. You rent the interior space of the apartment, not the HVAC system. The HVAC system not only belongs to the property owner, but also is under his or her custody, control and is to be maintained by the landlord. As such, I don't believe you can reasonably or legally expect that the HVAC system is under your sole and exclusive control. Aside from the legal reasons, hiding personal property and telling only one person is not a good idea. Should you and your sister pass away at the same time, or within a short time of each other, nobody would necessarily know that the property is in the vents and when they move your property out, the valuables could be left in the vents for the landlord, a contractor or the next tenant to find. My suggestion is that you either obtain a safety deposit box at a bank, or alternatively, if you concerned about a safe being stolen, then look at means of securing the safe to something which would be difficult if not impossible to move. Given that you do not own the property to make substantial modifications to secure the safe (or even install a floor or wall safe), I would suggest that a bank safety deposit box is your best bet. David L. Gibbs, Esq.The Gibbs Law Firm, APCSan Clemente, Californiagibbslaw.com *Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. Further, information you provide to the Firm through this website is not confidential - it is available publicly to anyone visiting this website. The Firm shall have no obligation to keep the information you provide herein confidential in any context. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence. As required by 11 U.S.C. §528, we must now disclose that, "We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Assistance we provide with respect to Debt Relief may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code."