Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Hello- I found a bunch of art in a pile of broken furniture next to a road here in Sherman Oaks, CA.
The pile was scheduled to be hauled to the landfill the next day and it was. I have pics of the pile.
The pile was on the grass strip between the street and the sidewalk. I tried to pay for the items but the apt. complex management thought I was a nut for trying to buy their garbage and wouldn't do it.
I want to be able to sell these items on my website or maybe on eBay.
How can I prove I legally own these items and can sell them?
Do I have to have them in my possession for so long or. ....?
Is one man's trash legally another man's treasure?
Thanks in advance. Stay safe!
1 Answer from Attorneys
One of the first lessons in the first year of law school is an old English case about a street urchin who found something of value and someone took it from him. The person who took it from him asserted that the urchin could not claim it back because it was not his. The court ruled that whomever possesses property has rightful ownership of it as against the whole world, except the true owner. Only the true owner an claim it from them. The moral of the story is: unless there is any meaningful expectation that the true owner will come back to claim it, it's yours.
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