swampcrawler
Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2013
- Messages
- 584
Ok guys... bare with me here. I'm still a bit hot about the issue and am looking to you guys to be a bit of a voice of reason.
My wife and i have been renting a property for the past year and recently bought a home in a different area. I've moved out all of my possessions except a bunch of inherited firearms and some misc reloading supplies, etc. long story short, we are scheduled to meet the guy on the afternoon of the march 3rd to return his keys, walk through the property so he can inspect it and discuss return of my security deposit, etc. According to the terms of my lease, i have fully paid for and have right to the home until the 5th, and at no point in writing nor conversation was he told that we were fully moved out of the property.
He took it upon himself to go last night (march 1st) and change the locks. When we arrived this morning to finish gathering my things and finish cleaning the place and found ourselves locked out, i called the dude. He began some rant about how he tried to show the house last night and it wasn't ready, claimed that the back door was unlocked, claimed my wife told him we were finished moving out, etc. I told him my weapons were inside and as far as i was concerned he had taken them into his possession without my permission, aka stolen them, and i would be calling LE. He quite bluntly stated he was too busy to be bothered with such matters and would not be coming to open the doors. He then began something about what someone told him from a sheriffs department in another parish, but at that point i had steam coming out of my ears and hung up and called the cops.
We called local law enforcement and they dispatched a unit. We explained to the officer what was going on and he called the guy on a recorded line and confirmed that what we told him was true and asked the guy to return my property and open the house. He refused, and then TOLD THE OFFICER THAT HE HAD TAKEN MY GUNS WITH HIM FOR "SAFE KEEPING", something which he had neither asked my permission to do, informed me of prior to doing, nor mentioned when i called him minutes before. I told the officer right then that i wanted to press charges for stolen firearms and breaking and entering (or whatever it would be considered for him to enter a residence that im still renting with no notice). The officer refused to do so stating that as long as the guy returns my firearms on the date we agreed upon to return his keys it was no big deal.
I strongly disagree. As far as i'm concerned this dude had no intention of ever returning those weapons and wouldn't have had i not actually gotten law enforcement involved. Regardless of whether or not the weapons are returned he still stole the things in the first place.
Do you guys agree? If so how would i proceed with getting the guy charged? I know it may seem petty but i honestly believe this dude intended to keep my guns, and i don't want any future tenants to fall victim to anything like this.
I'm also pretty sure i'm going to have to take him to small claims court to get my security deposit back, simply out of principle, because I'm not letting him keep it for no reason.
Like i said, i know i'm pretty hot and may be being a bit petty right now, but we put so much effort into following firearms laws to the T, no matter how arbitrary they are, and it doesn't seem right that this man can just let himself into a property that i still have legal right to and take my guns into his possession without my knowledge nor consent.
My wife and i have been renting a property for the past year and recently bought a home in a different area. I've moved out all of my possessions except a bunch of inherited firearms and some misc reloading supplies, etc. long story short, we are scheduled to meet the guy on the afternoon of the march 3rd to return his keys, walk through the property so he can inspect it and discuss return of my security deposit, etc. According to the terms of my lease, i have fully paid for and have right to the home until the 5th, and at no point in writing nor conversation was he told that we were fully moved out of the property.
He took it upon himself to go last night (march 1st) and change the locks. When we arrived this morning to finish gathering my things and finish cleaning the place and found ourselves locked out, i called the dude. He began some rant about how he tried to show the house last night and it wasn't ready, claimed that the back door was unlocked, claimed my wife told him we were finished moving out, etc. I told him my weapons were inside and as far as i was concerned he had taken them into his possession without my permission, aka stolen them, and i would be calling LE. He quite bluntly stated he was too busy to be bothered with such matters and would not be coming to open the doors. He then began something about what someone told him from a sheriffs department in another parish, but at that point i had steam coming out of my ears and hung up and called the cops.
We called local law enforcement and they dispatched a unit. We explained to the officer what was going on and he called the guy on a recorded line and confirmed that what we told him was true and asked the guy to return my property and open the house. He refused, and then TOLD THE OFFICER THAT HE HAD TAKEN MY GUNS WITH HIM FOR "SAFE KEEPING", something which he had neither asked my permission to do, informed me of prior to doing, nor mentioned when i called him minutes before. I told the officer right then that i wanted to press charges for stolen firearms and breaking and entering (or whatever it would be considered for him to enter a residence that im still renting with no notice). The officer refused to do so stating that as long as the guy returns my firearms on the date we agreed upon to return his keys it was no big deal.
I strongly disagree. As far as i'm concerned this dude had no intention of ever returning those weapons and wouldn't have had i not actually gotten law enforcement involved. Regardless of whether or not the weapons are returned he still stole the things in the first place.
Do you guys agree? If so how would i proceed with getting the guy charged? I know it may seem petty but i honestly believe this dude intended to keep my guns, and i don't want any future tenants to fall victim to anything like this.
I'm also pretty sure i'm going to have to take him to small claims court to get my security deposit back, simply out of principle, because I'm not letting him keep it for no reason.
Like i said, i know i'm pretty hot and may be being a bit petty right now, but we put so much effort into following firearms laws to the T, no matter how arbitrary they are, and it doesn't seem right that this man can just let himself into a property that i still have legal right to and take my guns into his possession without my knowledge nor consent.
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