Bought sort of stolen tv?

Question

I bought a tv from one of my friends, that his room mate left when he moved out. Now the tv was from rent a center. what should i do with it? is there a way i can get in trouble? whats the deal? its a 52" hdtv.

I dont live with either of them. What happened was, the one guy moved out and then his room mate sold it to me. Rent a center, nor the room mate know where i live.

Answer 1

Sort of stolen is like being sort of pregnant, you either are or not. In your case the TV is stolen.

Ideally you need to report it to Rent a Center and turn it in to them or work out a contract to finish paying for it. Since Rent a Center has your current address they are going to come looking for that TV and they won't be happy when they have to repossess it. If the TV hasn't been paid off or is only being rented then it is stolen property and the possession of stolen property is a crime. In this case Rent a Center can go after you because you should have known that it still belonged to them.

On the other hand there is no reason why you can't talk with them and just assume your old roommate's contract and payments where he left off. No one is hurt in this deal and if you have a contract with Rent a Center then you are safe and perfectly legal. If your roommate was on a rent to own plan then you can argue that you should not have to make a new contract, but you can just assume the payments from the point where he left off. After all you were already contributing to paying for the TV, I wouldn't go into how or actually if you were paying for it, but you were both using it so it was partial yours.

If the contract is a pure rental agreement then you might as well either give it back to Rent a Center or call them and take over the payments to keep renting it. They are not going to just forget about a 52" TV and if they have to come looking for it they are not going to be happy. This is a pretty common event in their line of work so they probably have a repossession company on contract and connections with the police to make prosecution easier.

It is all your ex-roommate's fault, but he left you holding the TV so you are the one they are going to come looking for. Right now the TV is not stolen, at least not until the next payment is due so you have a window to make it right. It is in Rent a Center’s best interest for you to keep the TV and continue to make payments on it so they will want to be reasonable with you if you contact them first.

If you paid your ex-roommate for the TV then either he owned it and you are free and clear, which is of course what he told you (right?), or you paid for what he paid to Rent a Center and so you assumed the contract to rent to own the TV and you only need to finish making the payments that he has already made to own the TV.

If you bought the TV and it was only being rented then you technically bought stolen property and Rent a Center will come looking for it and who ever lives at that address currently.

I don't think Rent a Center is going to just write off this TV. If your roommate sold it to someone who you didn't know then they would, but they have your address and while the TV is still there they can find you and will want their TV back. Brand new this TV is worth a few thousand dollars so they won't just write that off so easily.

Answer 2

If you are asking - then you already know. Perhaps what you may be hoping for is an answer that will somehow help you justify keeping it? Funny about material things - they come and go. But once you make a choice between right and wrong it's permanent. A nice TV is nothing compared to being able to someday say that no matter what you have or don't have, you have your integrity, and that will serve you well. Congratulations for even recognizing the question! Good luck -

Answer 3

There is no such thing as "sort of stolen" anything. The property belongs to the rental center. It is unlikely you would ever be caught, but it is simply not the right thing to do to keep it. Ultimately, you should arrange to return it to the rental center - call them from a pay phone to set up the conditions.

Answer 4

Possibly because the Tv belongs to Rent a Center they call his room mate if he dnt pick up he goes to ur freind and iof he says he says anything hbut SOld it to you you might either have to give it up or pay anyfine but thew w3hole thing or do some jail time

Answer 5

Your friend's room mate was the dude renting the tv so the onus is on him to fess up as to where the rented tv went. He's the guy that signed the rental agreement, so if there's a problem, it's up to him to return it.
But, if it has to be returned, go after your "BUDDY" for a refund!

Answer 6

If Rent-A-Center pursues the loss of merchandise and a police investigation is launched, and the fingers are pointed to you, then you could be charged with "receiving stolen property". EDIT: you think police cant find where you live?

Answer 7

rent a center won't know its you that has it (there's no tracker on the tv). They will press charges on the guy who rented it though. So you should return it to the store and ask your friend for a refund

Answer 8

LOL ...I also had a freind who got a tv from a rent a center type place. he got divorced and left town but left the tv with me till he came back to get it. it was not paid for. he never came back...i put in in my living room and watched it for many years. i would let the person who signed the rental agreement with rental store worry about it. if this person showed up and wanted the tv back tho, there might be a problem. if the rental place knew you had it they could try to take it back from you also.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Return it to rent-a-center before they come after you. Hope I helped!