"finders keepers?" my neighbor found a stack of lumber had been delivered to his driveway by mistake.

Question

"there was no 'bill of lading'or identifiers of the source of the material." he said.

Although I suggested several possibilities for tracking down the proper owners: "Reversed address number", "tenth ave instead of tenth street", "canvassing neighbors", etc. he seemed to be of the opinion that whoever delivered should come get the stack if they really want it.

within a few days the stack was no longer in the driveway.

Now, three weeks later, I've learned that the sate police have given him three days to identify the party he claims to have "given" the stack to, and also learned that the stack rightly belongs to another close neighbor.

Now I feel complicit in that I "DID NOTHING!" with the knowledge I had of the situation. I could have at least strongly encouraged him to make an honest effort to find the owner.

What would you have done in this situation?

Answer 1

Being we are talking about something of value that was delivered in error, he has a resposibility to notify those that delivered it. If there is no way to notify them he should have notified the police.
If within 30 days it had not been claimed he has a right to it.
Also,
If any damage, loss of use occured to his property, he has a reasonable right to recover for losses, but other than that this is akin to theft by deception.

Answer 2

To be frank, it doesn't matter now what you should or should not have done, and you did nothing wrong anyway. The best thing you can advise your neighbour to do NOW is get a lawyer. The police sound like they are not being very reasonable. Also, when your neighbour has a lawyer, you can swear out an affidavit that details what happened. This will perhaps save him a lot of trouble.

Answer 3

Let him know how you feel if you are close friends. If not, tell him how you feel! Also you might remind him a lot of people cut that wood for extra money to help their own families.
If he does not come clean, you have to. You could be charged for with holding information. So I would at least give the officer heading the case a call and tell him what you do know... Hope this helps..

Answer 4

I would have started spreading the word to my neighbors, common sense suggests it was simply a mistake of a nearby address. You probably would have found the correct neighbor in a day. And the guy who did get the wood and said it wasn't labled, or that he had no idea who delivered it, sounds a bit fishy to me.

Answer 5

An attorney would talk about unjust enrichment actions, and similar remedies. Personally, I would inform the delivery company of the problem, and tell them to pick up the lumber and deliver it correctly.

Answer 6

You have nothing to be responsible for. It was left in your neighbors driveway so it is his responsibility. I feel as he does that if they was no way of identifying the deliverer or who its intended receiver was, he didn't have any way of contacting anyone. He could have called the local lumberyard to see if they did it in error, but three weeks? I would have thought that they could have realized their error sooner than that.

Answer 7

I probably would keep it too.

The company that left it is in the wrong. They trespassed on to his property and left a mess for him to clean up and remove at his cost. They left no contact info. They can buy the rightful owner a new load.

He needs to sue them for disposal fees.

Answer 8

Honesty is always my policy. But you did give him different ways to do the right thing, So don't blame yourself, you tried:)

Answer 9

No one wants to hear about your neigbors wood.