Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I suspect laws would be broken in the recovery. For example, if the property is glass insulators or copper wire on a long-unused pole line, there would probably be a trespass involved.

Further, dis-use of property does not always equate with abandonment, In general, the law requires more, such as an act on the part of the owner indicating a conscious attempt to dispose of possession, like throwing it into a dumpster. That trunk in grandma's attic may be untouched, and not even thought about, for 25+ years, but it sure isn't abandoned!

There are California statutes creating a presumption of abandonment in specific situations. These include unclaimed freight, property left after a residential rental expires or in a warehouse, repaired items that aren't picked up, motor vehicles left where they don't belong, certain bailments, etc. None of these, to my knowledge, allow stuff in or on your own real estate to fall into any "abandoned" category. An easement or right-of-way of a highway or railroad is little different than grandma's attic, and I see little difference between the telecommunications equipment on the one hand, and the trunk on the other.

Finally, note that stuff that is attached to the land, like telephone poles and other apparatus, might be considered "fixtures" and have merged into the real property. If so, payment of taxes by the land owner would effectively prevent abaondonment of the land or the fixtures.

I do not believe that governmental entities can ever be considered to have abandoned any type of property. If it is real property [lnad] that you are taking about, you definitely ca not take it; if it is personal property unless it is sitting on a public easement or your land, it would be trespassing to go onto that property, which is braking the law. Contact the responsile public entity and see if they will sell the item to you.