Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: personal property

Possibly. I believe this would fall into the categories of a "voluntary deposit" and a "gratuitous deposit," meaning you accepted possession of the articles rather than obtaining possession accidentally, but you are not storing them with the expectation of a profit. This places you in a kind of middle ground as to the standard of care you are expected to exercise. You have also done the appropriate thing to terminate a voluntary, not-for-hire deposit; i.e., you have given the owner reasonable notice to come and get his things. If that notice was actually received, for example, you sent a certified letter and got the return receipt, or you talked to the owner on the phone, etc., and a reasonable time has passed, you've fulfilled that obligation (notice).

The only remaining question or possible issue is this: the items still belong to the depositor, not you. Ownership doesn't pass by virtue of failure to come-and-get. It's not a finders-keepers situation. I think you have an obligation to handle the disposition of the other party's property in a commercially-reasonable manner. For example, if one of the items is a $50,000 backhoe, you can't just give it to your brother-in-law who is a contractor. You would have to (for example) sell it on the open market, deduct your costs and expenses, then remit the balance to the former owner. Of course, if the stuff left with you is miscellaneous junk with no particular market and no real value, you could donate it to a charity and get a donation receipt for the owner, or maybe no one wants the stuff, in which case it is commercially reasonable to take it to the dump.

I cannot predict whether you will be sued, but if you follow the above as a general guide, you are very likely to win any suit.