all my stuff was thrown out

on January 15, 2008 i was living with my mom in a house that she was leasing. I was not on the lease but that address was my legal residence and also where all my mail went. I had been living there for about 3 months then she told me I was not allowed to live there and said i had to be out by 5:00 the next day. She also informed the police that she did this and if i went near the house i would be arrested, i didn't know till recently this was illegal. i ended up staying in my car for a week or so before having to borrow money from my dad to pay for a room somewhere. I am finally getting an apartment (after a year of sleeping on friends couches) with my girlfriend so i have room to keep all my stuff. when I went back to her house a few weeks ago to get my stuff it was gone, i had about $5500 worth of things there, It was all in the basement and she told me when i left i could keep it there as long as i wanted. Her house is still my legal address so does that mean I can file a small claim for the amount it was all worth? I have emails from her stating she threw it all out only cause she assumed i didn't want it. Can i also file the claim for the money i had to pay to get a new apartment because she didn't file a notice of any kind?

[sunlover]

You can file a suit but fact you made no effort to get stuff since Jan of this year works against you. You will also need to document what was there at its worth.

Originally Posted by sunlover You can file a suit but fact you made no effort to get stuff since Jan of this year works against you. You will also need to document what was there at its worth.

well according to my brother she threw it out less than a month after i was gone. I have made a list of every single thing she threw out plus a link to where i bought it and the lowest possible price to replace it. And seeing as it was still my legal address for the year does that help anything? and would the fact that she is renting it and i was not on the lease affect it?

This isn't a tenant issue, but a family issue. This person wasn't your LL, she is your mother. Any claim you have would be handled under family law, not LL-tenant law.

Even if you tried to apply LL-tenant law to this situation, she gave you notice to move out and vacate the premises. You had no lease, and would be considered no more than a month to month tenant *IF* you were paying for your room. A LL has only to give notice to a month to month tenant to get out. How much time she had to give you to move out would have been determined by your state law. Once you did leave and did not return, you have officially abandoned the place and any belonings within it. Most states' laws say the property owner must continue to store your possessions for only 30 days after this before they dispose of them. She kept them for a month, then got rid of them when you didn't return for them, as is proper in most states. You further failed to contact her to get your possessions for another 11 months. No LL will keep your possessions for that long of a time. Per LL-tenant law (if you attempt to apply it here) she had no obligation to continue to store your belongings anbd had no responsibility for them after 30 days.

You have no case here. You had no lease and could be asked to move out. You failed to return to retrieve your belongings within a reasonable amount of time. Sorry, but your place to live and your right to abandoned items doesn't last forever. Those rights are terminated with notice to leave and abandonment for 30 days. Forget this and move on with your life.

This situation leaves one to wonder, what did you do to tick off your mother to this degree?

Originally Posted by Unregistered This situation leaves one to wonder, what did you do to tick off your mother to this degree?

I turned 18 and she wasn't getting child support for me anymore so therefor i was useless you now go **** yourself

[sunlover]

These belongings who paid for by who? As mentioned the time frame to pick items had also passed. You can sue but its not likely you will prevail

Originally Posted by sunlover These belongings who paid for by who? As mentioned the time frame to pick items had also passed. You can sue but its not likely you will prevail

I paid for everything myself and have some paypal receipts for a few items, i had a file cabinet there she also threw out with all my receipts, SS card, passport, birth certificate, and any other legal documentation i had saved speeding tickets etc...
I know i shouldn't have trusted her but i have lived with her my whole life and i would never have expected her to do this. I have also been homeless living on peoples couches for the past year so i had absolutely nowhere to put any of it even if i wanted to.

So no money was coming into the household for you. Turned 18 and were no longer in school... Why didn't you get a job? And before you say you couldn't find one, you could have worked in any fast food restaurant at minimum wage. Even those meager wages would have been enough to pay for a storage locker to place your belongings, or to pay a small rent to your mother so you would be an actual tenant with tenant's rights. Had you done this and tried to take responsibility and support yourself, you would have been able to pick up your belongings within the state's allotted timeframe and they would not have been disposed of. At 18 you are considered an adult and are to be responsible enough to make your own way. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's true.

I lived in sutton new hampshire. the nearest mcdonalds was over 10 miles away and the nearest convience store or supermarket was further than that, i had a job at a ski area that was a 30 minute drive away and got rides from a coworker who quit and i was not able to find rides from anyone else. and when i did find a job i got pulled over the next day and my car was impounded cause it was uninspected and unregistered beacuse i couldn't afford either, thats when i was given $500 from my dad for my own place in the city where I did find a job but i barely made enough money for rent and couldn't even afford the $100 to file a lawsuit cause that was when it was gone.

"ad you done this and tried to take responsibility and support yourself, you would have been able to pick up your belongings within the state's allotted timeframe and they would not have been disposed of. "

I WAS WORKING and i WAS paying her $100 a month and i did try to pick up my **** before the 30 days im allowed.

P.s. if your just piece of **** rich lawyer or parent that isn't going to say anything useful then go find another question to answer, cause i worked my ****ing ass off and i tried as hard as i possibly could to find a job and a home for two weeks with absolutely no home in the middle of the winter and when i finally made it i find out every single thing i ever owned was gone cause some c u n t felt it was necisarry to get rid of it.
AND I DON'E CARE WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE ALL I CARE ABOUT IS WHAT I CAN DO RIGHT ****ING NOW!