Personal property issue... I've searched on Oregon's GOV site for property laws

[lcg8063]

I've searched on Oregon's GOV site for property laws, and couldn't find the information I was looking for, so I thought I'd give it a shot here:

I moved to the state of AZ in 2010 leaving a large box with my friend Jennifer to drop off at my parents house, giving explicit directions, to which she agreed. I returned to the state of Oregon in late 2011 looking for said box and it's not in my parents posession. Confused, I contacted Jennifer to which she said she moved to Seattle shortly after my move, and left said box with her friend. This friend left it with someone else, and from what I last heard, this person threw my belongings away. I received no notifications or contact on anyones part, and I just recently learned of this situation.

My box contained sentimental irreplaceable items, important documents, and electronics. A total value of roughly $500.00+

I contacted the person who had/has my things, and she won't give me direct answers. She's not letting me know if she still has them, or if they are thrown out, and being VERY rude about it too. Am I out of luck? Or is compensation something that can be in order?

[goddessoflubboc]

If the box contained such irreplaceable items you should have carried them yourself, either to your parents or to AZ.

You could sue your friend Jennifer but that will not get your lost items back.

[Lexus]

In this case what is the obligation of that person who throw your belongings away. If you want to claim the only person against whom you can make a claim is Jennifer. But that will not return or compensate your sentimental belongings back.

So far, OP, you've received inaccurate answers.

The truth of the matter is; unless you had some formal written agreement with this person, you have no case against her.

You chose to place your own responsibility onto someone else's shoulders. She was not legally obligated in any way to do as you asked.

If you wanted to ensure these "sentimental" items reached your parents, you had other alternatives that would have included keeping the personal responsibility on your own shoulders. You could have packaged them up and mailed (or Fed Ex) them to your parent's home, for example.

Sorry, but you have no case against this friend. The onus for what's happened is on you.

[StorageGuy]

Your fact pattern falls under the law of bailment. Bailment is the process of placing personal property in your case in the temporary custody or control of Jennifer. The custodian or holder of the property, who's responsible for the safe keeping and return of the property, is know as the bailee. The person who delivers or transfers the property to the bailee is known as the bailor. For a bailment to be valid, the bailee must have actual physical control of the property with the intent to possess it. It sounds like these requirements were met.

If the bailment is a gratuitous bailment, as this case seems to be, and is for the benefit of only you, the bailor, Jennifer owes only a duty of slight care. You are entitled to recover damages for lost or damaged property if he can show that Jennifer failed to exercise the required degree of care and proximately caused damage or loss of the property. If Jennifer exercised the required degree of care required, then you won't be entitled to damages. With a gratuitous bailment, Jennifer won't be liable for damage to your property unless she's grossly negligent.

So to answer your question, is compensation in order? Probably, depending on the fact pattern as Jennifer sees it. She may have made a good faith efforts in delivering your property, who knows. You could sue her in small claims court, present your facts and listen to her defense. You may not find a great deal of sympathy as her efforts, whatever they were, were not compensated and as mentioned above, were gratuitous in nature. If her defense is that she just didn't have time to deal with it, she may lose the case. Remember, her duty of care is only slight. I would encourage you to let it go and learn a valuable lesson.

[Friend In Court]

StorageGuy's reply is correct in that the legal principals and laws of bailment apply. That is where one person receives another's property, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and their duty to care for it and return it to the owner. The facts of each case, though, determine whether the duty was owed, for how long, whether there was negligence, conversion, etc.

Here is a fairly recent Oregon case that discusses bailment as it is applied in the State of Oregon:

Date: 06-17-2009
Case Style: Jerry R. Becker v. Pacific Forest Industries, Inc., et al.
Case Number: 01C12876
Judge: Edmonds
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals on appeal from the Circuit Court, Marion County
Plaintiff's Attorney: Norman Webb, Law Offices of Norman F Webb, Salem, Oregon argued the cause and filed the brief for respondent.
Defendant's Attorney: Bob Williamson, Robert Williamson & Associates, Salem, Oregon argued the cause and filed the brief for appellant.

The irreplaceable things you had of course may gone forever. But whether you can recover or not, I suggest you read the case and see if in it you can find enough to hang your hat on.