Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maryland

Property left by guests in the home

A young lady stayed with us for about 2 1/2 months.

When she left our home, she left all her belongings

(clothing, CD's, and some fake jewelry) behind. We did

not have a forwarding address for her, and she stated

that she was not returning to our home. When we

contacted her at her place of business on Tuesday (the

day after she left), she was told that she was to

arrange to pick up her belongings by Friday night or

they would be placed out front on the curb on Saturday

morning. She did not contact us, so on Saturday

morning, we placed her things out on the curb. They

then disappeared, and we do not know what happened to

them (she may have picked them up). She now says that

we had an obligation to her to deliver her property to

her or to safeguard it until she decided to come

retrieve it. What obligation did we have regard


Asked on 2/06/00, 11:42 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: Property left by guests in the home

To answer your question, it is first necessary to determine the status of the property your former boarder left behind. If her actions demonstrate an intention to abandon the property, then your actions are completely reasonable and she has no claim against you for what you did. If it can be said that she expected you to take care of your property until she retrieved it, then the issue is were your actions reasonable in putting it out on the street? Legally, you would be considered a bailee of her property, and a bailee must use reasonable care to maintain another person's property. If there was no indication from her when you contacted her that she intended to retrieve the property, and it was a hardship or inconvenience for you to keep it, you are probably within your rights to dispose of it.

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Answered on 2/09/00, 4:24 pm


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