I know this has been asked before but I'm still confused.

I live in Kansas. I had a room mate who lived with me for about 6 months while she tried to get away from an abusive husband. During that time she never paid rent or bills, but she did buy a few pieces of furniture. When she left (to go back to the abuse). She left some personal stuff and the furniture. I have not heard from her in over two years and have no forwarding address. Can I get rid of this stuff, or should I store it longer.

I would send a certified letter, return receipt requested, stating that she has X number of days to reclaim the property or you will dispose of it.

Send it to the last address you know she lived at, even if she is no longer there.

It will most likely come back to you, moved left no forwarding, or unclaimed.

Once the time limit has expired that you stated in the notice, get rid of the crap, keep the returned letter, and present that if she should ever try to take legal action against you for getting rid of it.

Progunr provides a thorough way to make sure you've covered the bases, and his approach is the decent thing to do. But actually you have no legal responsibility to provide storage facilities for someone else, so you would be within your rights to toss it all any time you want.

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Originally Posted by ebaines

Progunr provides a thorough way to make sure you've covered the bases, and his approach is the decent thing to do. But actually you have no legal responsibility to provide storage facilities for someone else, so you would be within your rights to toss it all any time you want.

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Within her legal rights, yes.

Protected from a frivolous law suit, no.

What's to prevent the other party from claiming an oral agreement, and the asker needing to defend against that in a possible suit?

I agree that progunr's idea is the "proper" thing to do, but there's more to this story. This girls husband is a sociopath, alcoholic and very dangerous. I have received death threats form this guy (he is stupid enough to leave them on my answering machine which I saved). I have hundreds of hours of recorded messages and e-mails from this guy. The fact that two years have passed with no contact is a good thing. If I send a letter and it somehow finds it's way to her or him, it will open up another can of worms. He has huge financial resources and seems to enjoy suing people just for the fun of it.

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Originally Posted by love2fishfork

He has huge financial resources and seems to enjoy suing people just for the fun of it.

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Another excellent reason to protect yourself in the event a suit happens.

I love it when someone asks a question, someone else gives a thoughtful answer, and then the asker comes up with a "but theres more to the story". Sure makes things interesting.

If you are afraid to send the letter, and afraid that he will do harm to you, if you do, or if you don't, then you need to plan on storing the stuff forever.

That is the only other option I can offer you after your "but there's more to this story".

Hope things turn out well for you!