Any possible legal repercussions for dropping off belongings onto person's front yard?

Question

I already wrote a few times about a recent "ex-boyfriend" who was acting shady, so I publically dumped him over Myspace(go me!) He still has a pile of clothes(given to him by his brother) at my apartment. A few weeks ago before I dumped him, when he started being ignorant, I called him and expressed my annoyance by telling him to come get his clothes. Needless to say, that never happened. My ex and I have been arguing with each other and basically belittling each other in mutual ways. Two friends and I are thinking of dumping his clothes(along with his Mountain Dew case he left behind) onto his front lawn one morning! Haha. My friends think this is really funny, but I just want to make sure there isn't any chance that this will result in "vandalism" charges or some stupid little law breaking. I mean, dropping off his clothes on his lawn will be embarrassing, but it's better than me simply throwing them away, right? I can't get arrested for this, can I?

Thanks for the advice, guys. Just for the record, I'm not trying to be nice or official, I just want to be a passive-aggressive jerk to him. Also, the clothes are hand-me-downs that K's older brother E gave him that had once belonged to K's and E's now-deceased brother. They're not brand-new or anything of significant value.

Well, my dad did something similar to me before so it can't be that "bad." He took a heaping armful of clothes, with hangers still attached and all, and dumped them in this empty trashcan(with sticky goo at the bottom of it) at the top of our driveway. So if my dad can do it to me, I can do 10X worse to this ****** ****** ******* *******.

Answer 1

Though you may not get arrested for littering his yard, there is a potential for a civil suit IF after dropping the clothes off something happens to them.

The issue would be whether you provided "due care" for maintaining the property until he had an opportunity to recover them from you.

By leaving the property outside and in the yard, anybody can come along and steal the property.

A possible solution would be to call him one more time telling him that you are going to leave his property at his place and ask that someone be there to take custody of the property.

If that doesn't work, box the property and mail it "certified" where he has to sign for it. Granted that may cost you a bit of change for the service...but it could save you court costs in the future that could add up to the replacement cost if adjudicated by the court!

Best wishes and hope you find a GOOD man in the near future.

Answer 2

No, you won't get arrested but it is against the law to just put someone's stuff out on the lawn for anyone to possibly take. He could sue you, so I suggest that you do not do that. I would send him a certified letter asking him to come and pick up the clothes, and if he doesn't respond cal the police & tell them the situation & that u don't wanna get in trouble for it. Whoever gievs u info @ the police station be sure to get their name.

Believe me, I have seen soo many judge shows where people get sued for the same exact thing & they always lose. Make sure u just cover your own a** - u know?

Answer 3

It seems to me that you are at risk of a some type of charge by the police or prosecutor for dumping the clothes in his yard, as well as suit by him if something happens to his clothes. Get ready too for him to say there was something really valuable (like money in a pants pocket) in the clothes and it is gone. The list of possibilities goes on and on. So, why subject yourself to potential liability? Always take the high road.