[tracined]

On the final day we had to vacate, I waited to speak to the sheriff as I did not have time to remove all of my belongings from the garage before the given time. He handed me a paper which stated that the Landlord would "store" my things for 14 days, during which time I could make arrangements to retrieve them and pay any storage fees due. And that after that 14 day window, my belongings would become property of the Landlord and they could dispose of them as they pleased. I was also told that if I attempted to set foot on the property without permission from the Landlord, I would be arrested for trespassing. Nine days after vacating, I e-mailed the Landlord asking her what was needed from me in order to retrieve my stuff. I received no answer. I drove by the property in hopes that someone was there I could speak to, and found that there was no lock on the garage and that ALL of my property was gone, and the garage had been neatly cleaned. I promptly called the landlord who said that she knew nothing about my stuff, but that she had removed the lock they placed on the garage so that I could pick up my property. And that she had observed "transients" and "neighbors" going through my property and that must be where it had gone! I asked her why she removed the lock without notifying me that I could have access, since I had strict instructions NOT to set foot on the property, and why did she leave the garage unlocked and open to any and all persons to ransack my property. Her answer was vague, and she stuck to her story that it wasn't her problem as she had left it unlocked for me. She gave me the name of the property manager and I then called him. His story did not jive with hers at all! He lied and said that there was nothing in the garage or the house (I left a washer and dryer, a computer desk and dresser in the house), and that no lock had ever been placed on the garage, but he stated that he had also seen "homeless" people and "neighbors" carrying off my property!

Let me tell you, that if the garage had been ransacked, it would not have been left in the neat and clean manner in which I found it. It was obvious to me that they are trying to cover the fact that they disregarded their responsibility of caring for my property for the 14 day period and wasted no time in hauling it all off to the dump!

I am outraged! There were many personal family items that can not be replaced, furniture, book collocations belonging to my teenage son amt Mother, and Antiques I had collected over the years and sold through my flea market rental, which had since closed.

Isn't what she did illegal? And I'm not sure whether to hire an attorney or go through small claims court... How do I go about proving the worth of the items that were in there? I have eye-witnesses who helped me move the property into the garage and were there helping me move and therefore know basically how much was in the garage.

Thank you

[ScottGem]

Yes it is. That paper that you have puts the responsibility on her to secure your property. What you need to do now is assemble a list of items and their values. Then file suit against her for that amount. You will need to be very realistic in your valuations. Also, I'm not sure what value you can place on sentiment. You might try consulting an attorney who can help you with that.