QUESTION
Who owns the stuff on a piece of property I bought?
Asked on Oct 02nd, 2013 on Estate Planning - Michigan
More details to this question:
I recently bought a piece of property. Someone else owns a piece of property behind mine and has an easement to his through the middle of mine. Next to his property, on mine, but not on the easement, is a bunch of stuff (upright piano, several old cars, some metal pipes, garbage). I found out from the city that this stuff is my neighbors brother. I bought the property from their sister. I asked the brother to remove his stuff from my property within a week. He stated he may need a week and a half. I said okay. It has now been two weeks and nothing has been done. Can I have the cars towed and either sell the rest of the stuff or throw it away, or does he have some legal right to his stuff. I have a phone number for this brother, but I don't have an address, so I can't send him anything official. The sister inherited the property and lives on the other side of the country. I don't think she knew this stuff was on her property, before I bought it.
5 ANSWERS
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You have to give notice and a reasonable amount of time before you dispose of the property. Send the sister who sold you the property and the brother-neighbor a certified letter giving them 30 days. I am sure you want it gone sooner, but it is better to leave it there for a month and protect yourself from a lawsuit later by giving a reasonable amount of time and verifiable notice in writing.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2013 at 11:58 AM
Commercial Contracts Attorney serving Boise, ID
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Peters Law, PLLC
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Tell the other owner that you will move his brother's stuff to his property if is not removed within 1 week. Then get somebody to tow it over there. Don't dump it so it breaks or anything. Then send the brother the bill via the owner for moving the stuff.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2013 at 11:13 AM
You will need to send him a formal written notice to remove his property within the statutorily-alloted time (30 days?). If he doesn't get it out of there, you may need a court order to grant you permission to remove the stuff from your property. As some of those items may be valuable, don't just throw them away yet.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2013 at 11:06 AM
Business Planning Attorney serving Livonia, MI
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Frederick & Frederick Attorneys at Law
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Strange situation. I think that since you know the items belong to someone else, you need to give him a reasonable amount of time to collect it. There are ways of locating an address, even with as little as a phone number or a name. I would communicate to him, (ideally, in writing), that if the items are not collected by a certain date, you will deem them to be abandoned. Hopefully, that will light a fire under him.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2013 at 10:30 AM
Divorce Attorney serving Bingham Farms, MI
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Gottlieb & Goren, P.C.
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The no-risk action would be to start a suit naming unclaimed property as the defendant. You should serve any and everyone you think has a claim in the property. The Court would probably want you to publish notice of the suit in a local paper. Or, see if the city will start a proceeding to have the property removed or issue a code violation ticket requesting the property be removed. Then, the city will do all of the Court paperwork.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2013 at 9:15 AM