Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania
Return of personal property
I was involved in a long distance relationship. He purchased a laptop for me for Valentine's Day. When I moved from one apartment to another I didn't have room for all of my personal belongings. He offered to store them in one of his houses for me to save me the expense of a storage rental. The relationship ended when he became verbally abusive. He insisted that I give back the laptop in order to get my personal property back. I offered to buy the laptop. After he told me the price, $2000, I decided I could get one cheaper. He now insists that I must give him $2000 in order to get my personal property back. Some of the property he has, such as childhood photo albums, are irreplaceable. He lives in PA, I live in MD (DC area). How do I go about suing him to get my things back?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Return of personal property
The laptop is a gift, and therefore belongs to you. You don't have to pay for it to get it.
You can sue him (in Pennsylvania) for the return of your property (replevin). Make a list of all of the property and its value. You may want to consider trying to get a writ of seizure for the property so that it is impounded pending the outcome of the case so that he doesn't destroy, conceal or dispose of it.
Also sue for unjust enrichment for the fair market value of the property in case he has destroyed the property. Make sure you also sue for money damages for any possible damage to the property (not in the same condition as when you gave it to him) and for your costs, fees, and expenses in trying to get the property back. Before you commence suit, write him a letter, certified mail, listing the property and asking for its return within a specified number of days (10-20).
He will likely countersue for storage costs, but the accrual of storage costs should stop on the date when you asked for the property's return.
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