Legal Question in Business Law in California

motel law

A guest left my motel leaving a room full of his stuff (6/8). I couldn't rent the room. 11 days later (6/19) he came back demanding his stuff. Mgr called the cops who made him write a $440 check for the 11 days. It bounced. We've tried to call him (no answer) & write his PO box (no reply). At what point can I discard of the items and/or try to sell some of it to recover my money?


Asked on 7/15/07, 12:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: motel law

Civil Code sections 1859 through 1867 comprehensively cover the subject of innkeepers' rights and liabilities for guest belongings. It is too long to quote here and so important for motel operators to understand that I strongly recommend you get a copy and read at least the parts that bear upon this incident and other similar problems that may come up.

The essence of the statutes (which I have only skimmed, by the way) seems to be that the innkeeper has a lien on guest baggage, etc. for the payment of the guest's bill, and the innkeeper can take possession of the baggage, but the lien cannot be enforced (by selling the stuff) until the innkeeper has fled, served and won a court action as described in the statute. In a way, it all seems too complicated and expensive to be worth while.

As an alternative, you might consult with the district attorney's office about your rights with respect to the bad check. I believe there is a lot of bad-check info on the Web, perhaps from the Dept. of Consumer Affairs.

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Answered on 7/15/07, 3:27 pm


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