Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Stolen Property

An acquaintance of ours owns her own cleaning business and rented a large storage facility for it. She allowed us to store our boat in her heated garage. She vacated the premises in January of 2007 and NEVER notified us. Now the owner of the building refuses to give us our boat back without paying $2400. We were paid through July with our acquaintance and had no contract with the building owner. Can he force us to pay this outrageous amount even though we had no contract with him? I am not sure if this is civil law or what?


Asked on 8/27/07, 3:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
JAY Nixon nixon law offices

Landlord's Lien in Distrain of Rent Over Property Belonging to A Non-Tenant

In a commercial storage situation, the landlord's lien for nonpayment of rent is a powerful one, defeating the rights of many other parties including the owner in some situations. A few exceptions might include the situation of stolen property held by the thief in the storage facility without knowledge or permission from the owner (the documentation of the theft would need to be rather good, i.e., with timely police reports, etc.) Landlords also have the right to sell certain property for back rent after satisfying several legal requirements for notice, etc. Therefore, I could not advise you without knowing more of the facts and doing some legal research.

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Answered on 8/27/07, 5:55 pm


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