Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas

I bought a house in 3.5 years ago. When I was signing my papers, my real estate agent forwarded a question from the owner asking if he could leave a pool table at my house for a couple of weeks until he was able to move it. Two and half years later, he left a note wanting me to contact him about the pool table, but I never got around to it. Today I found a new note claiming that he has tried to contact me several times and that he wants the pool table. After 2.5-3.5 years, shouldn't the table be considered abandoned, and if not, shouldn't he be on the hook for owing me fees for climate controlled storage?


Asked on 3/27/13, 9:06 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cheryl Rivera Smith The Smith Law Firm

Abandonment requires "intent." If you had sent the owner a certified letter and a deadline to remove the property, you could prove that there was "intent" to abandon if the deadline had been met. However, in Morgan v. Fox, 536 SW 2d 644, the court held that a company who left oil field equipment in a field for 4 years after the lease expired did not deem the equipment technically abandoned. The storage issue would have been worked out up front - your failure to create an arrangement ratified the rent-free storage status. So, if it were me, I'd just let them pick up the property and move on.

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Answered on 4/06/13, 10:19 am


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