Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Re: lost and found property

You asked about the property rights in finding an expensive ring.

As opposed to the age old rule of finders -keepers there are more complex rules regarding trover. Sometimes as an agent of the real property owner an discoverer may be under a duty to relinquish personal property to the owner of the real property.

You should get a receipt from the administrator. You should also follow the trover rules for PA. Generally these include placing the personal property in the possession of the local police, advertising the property and conducting a relatively thorough search for the true owner.

Found personal property, generally belongs to a finder to the exclusion of all others except a true owner. In this case if you are an employee the school _may_ have a superior claim if the ring goes unclaimed. If not an employee then you have a duty to search for the true owner but otherwise, after a statutory holding period, may claim ownership at least until such time as a true owner is discovered.

Remember and apply the golden rule and you should be good. But also follow the letter of the law. The property should be turned in to the local police rather than left with the school, where it is more likely to disappear. As the finder, you would have the standing to sue over the found property.

Regards,

Roger