Walnut Creek, CA
I rented a house from 2/15/2016 to 11/30/2016 and the previous renter left his relatively new fridge and sent an email saying he would leave it for me:
"Your mom also mentioned the fridge, she'll probably discuss it with you. If it helped you guys out, we could leave the kitchen fridge ($2,500 Whirlpool Gold about 2 years old) and fits perfectly in the 39' wide x 71.5' tall x 31' deep opening, or would you prefer to bring your own fridge? There is also an old spare/extra refrigerator in the garage that could stay if you wanted more cold storage, your mom thought that you might. " Dated 1/20/2016
I should also mention that the previous renter left a TV and a computer desk for us as they did not want to move them. The fact that they were giving us those items led us to believe they were giving us the fridge.
Our lease does not have language in it that the fridge was provided as part of the house. It does state we would need permission to install one with a water line. There was never any communication from the management company about the fridge until a month after the final walkthrough.
Believing that we now owned the fridge, we had moved the fridge to our new home prior to walkthrough - and I have a photo proving that. We moved out and did final walkthrough 11/29/2016 and got our full deposit back. On 1/5/2017 the management company demanded the fridge back and provided an addendum to the prior renter's contract where the renter had transferred ownership of the fridge to the owner on 1/20/2016 (same date as the email offering to leave it for us). However, yesterday was the very first time I saw that document.
It seems to me that as there is at least a reasonable assumption that the previous renter left the fridge for us (along with a TV and desk), that the management company did not address the fridge in the lease or at the time of walkthrough, and it is over a month since then, that we are entitled to the fridge.
That being said, I'm willing to return it, or offer a reasonable sum of money ($500) to keep the fridge. However, there are some cosmetic damages that happened during moving. I don't want to buttress their claim of ownership by offering to return it (as I think they will demand that we repair or replace it) nor do I want to get in a bidding war about the worth of fridge.
The management company is stating that they will sue and file criminal charges. While I doubt the criminal charges would fly, I also don't want to risk it as the law can be funny sometimes.
I would like some advice, and the relevant CA civil code or case law that informs that advice.
Submitted January 06, 2017 at 11:29PM by Iluv_Felashio http://ift.tt/2jjXrLp legaladvice
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