abandoned bike

[joshwalker094]

right guys, a customer of my dad's is renting a property, the last tenant has left his motorbike there a 2002 cbr600 f, the guy was supposed to have picked it up a month or two ago when he got back from newzeland. now the customer doesnt know if he's back or not, but wants the bike gone. now can he go about claiming it ?



sorry for any spelling mistakes, im very tired

Sell it for parts!

(Joke....ish)

[Fallout]

I've watched a lot of Judge Judy ... assuming US and UK laws are similar, basically a landlord has to give someone adequate notice to remove property. If he has given him written notice to remove the bike and he's not taken it, I'd say it's now his. Time to phone the DVLA me thinks.

[joshwalker094]

I want it, I know that if the customer can claim ownership, he'll give it me or for a cheap price, then i could track it

[joshwalker094]

but the customer is another tenant ( person renting property of landlord) so would he have any right to claim it?

[andrewsmith]

There was a thread on this about this a few months ago!

You can, after a certain amount of time and if the owner cannot be traced

If you want to track it, take it and deny all knowledge!

[joshwalker094]

track it or sell it for a profit idk, I've not had a proper look at it as its under a cover, but possibly keep it as a third road bike, as they don't look to bad.
but that's wishful thinking.

Originally Posted by Fallout

I've watched a lot of Judge Judy

Would ya?

You must provide a notice stating that the bike, in this case, will be disposed of if not collected within 3 months of a written notice. A few things to note. Some landlord/tenant agreements have a similar clause written into them so check the existing agreement.

If no such clause, the property owner must make all reasonable attempts to locate the owner of the bike. If there is an existing address, email or phone number send the notice to the owner using these known details. If no known details, the landlord must prove that reasonable attempts were made to locate the owner before disposing of the goods.

Ok, here the tricky part. The goods cannot be disposed of until expiry of the three months but the person possessing the goods (bike) can charge storage and associated disposal costs. This must be outlined in the notice and must be reasonable. On expiry of the notice, the landlord can sell the bike or dispose of it to recover their costs (as outlined in the notice) but if you keep it, the owner can reclaim it if they return to take posession (usually limited to 6 years from the date of the notice).

Equally, if it is sold the landlord can deduct their costs but the owner is entitled to the difference if they return to claim the bike.

So the most realistic options are:

1. Send a letter recorded post/tracked email to last know address. Keep a copy of all correspondence;
2. Notice to outline costs and require recovery within 3 months;
3. On expiry, sell the bike and deduct any reasonable costs (storage and disposal costs etc);
4. The owner has a claim to any difference so keep receipts as proof of disposal.