Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Massachusetts
left property-can it be sold?
My sister used to live with a guy. They broke up - he cheated on her. She kicked him out. He left stuff at the apartment. It has been 2+ years since. She has stuff of his that he has never picked up although he knows that she has it; and offers have been made to pick it up - he hasn't. Can she sell it? Can she throw it away? Does this stuff become ''hers'' after a certain amount of time. Does possession is 9/10 of the law apply? is that even legal? What does that really mean? Please advise.
Thank you!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: left property-can it be sold?
My suggestion is that your sister first do a careful, written inventory of all of these items, and that she then send this guy a letter via certified mail (w/ a return receipt indicating that he received it) in which she identifies these items and informs him that he has, say, 30 days to retrieve them or she will deem them to be abandoned and thereby subject to whatever she chooses to do with them. If her ex-boyfriend receives written notice from her and does not retrieve his items before the deadline, I think your sister would be on solid footing if she then disposed of these items as she chose fit. I think the optimal way to handle this would be to retain a lawyer and have him/her draft the letter. However, the letter need not come from a lawyer if it is well-written and clearly lays out her demands. Good luck.
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