Can You Sell Property That You Agreed to Store for a Prison Inmate

[bndmommaostepmomma]

My question involves personal property located in the State of: FL.

An acquaintance is currently incarcerated in the county jail. We agreed to store some items for him for a few months. It's mostly boxes of clothing and tools, but there is a Harley Davidson motorcycle in pieces there as well. Acquaintance has no one else willing to store his items as he has burned all bridges. He is a felon with a long rap sheet and is looking at a minimum of 3 years, maximum of 7.

He verbally stated to my husband that all personal items can be disposed of and that the motorcycle can be sold. They have since had a falling out and our acquaintance is no longer speaking to my husband.

How can we legally dispose of his items? The funds from selling anything will be deposited into his prison account, so there is no monetary gain for us.

Also, there was no firm stipulation on how long we would store his items, if this has any bearing on the legality issues. We have been in possession of all items since June of 2016.

Thank you.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You agreed to store the items for this person when he was in prison, so you had an idea of about how long that would be.

At some point during his prison term you apparently discussed with him the possibility of disposing of or selling some of the property. You did not do so. At some later point in time it appears that you were told that you were not authorized to dispose of or sell any of the property. Thus whatever permission was previously granted is now no longer valid. You have not shared a time frame for the authorization and revocation of permission.

You can send him a letter asking him to authorize you in writing to sell his property, and to execute a power of attorney authorizing you to sell the motorcycle, with all proceeds to go into his commissary account; if he agrees and provides the written authorization/POA, you can act accordingly and the problem is solved.

[adjusterjack]

How can we legally dispose of his items?

Unfortunately, Florida's unclaimed property statute applies to intangible property and doesn't help you.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/...EChapter%20717

The only thing I could find that comes close is disposition of tenant's abandoned property starting with 715.10:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/...EChapter%20715

[Mr. Knowitall]

This was not a residential tenancy, and thus the statute dealing with tenant property is not applicable.