real-estate property
Am I Obligated to Return a Mysterious Box?
<p>Last week, I moved out of apartment complex.  My U-Haul spent a fair amount of time unattended in the parking lot while I was lugging stuff out.  When I got to my new apartment and unpacked my boxes, I found several boxes full of stuff that I had never seen before.  Among the items that I found in these boxes were:</p>

<ul>
<li>A vacuum cleaner that makes noise, but doesn't have any suction</li>
<li>A Rubik's cube with half of the stickers missing</li>
<li>An old CRT monitor with an image partially burned in</li>
<li>Shelves from a refrigerator</li>
<li>Lots of magnets, mostly dull but a few good ones</li>
<li>Instructions on how to install a door bell</li>
<li>4 copies of the DVD Battleship</li>
</ul>

<p>This was very strange to find this box.  I'm guessing this came in my truck for 2 possible reasons:</p>

<ol>
<li>Somebody was also moving at the same time and mistakenly put it in</li>
<li>Somebody was trying to throw away an old box of junk and just put it in my open truck and ran away</li>
</ol>

<p>Considering how my now former neighbors would terrorize me (blasting loud music, setting loose a possum through my window, taking a dump in my mailbox), I'm guessing it's the 2nd reason, although I'm not positive.</p>

<p>My question is: am I under any legal obligation to try to return this box?  I don't want to see my former neighbors again, but can I get in trouble if I keep this?</p>

<p>In California (where lost+found laws have been discussed quite a lot), this would be either "lost property" or "abandoned property". With abandoned property, you can do what you want. With lost property, it is legal to <em>ignore</em> it. </p>

<p>If you take it, you have the obligation to try to return it to the owner. If you don't do that, it's theft. If you don't take it, you have no obligation whatsoever. Put it somewhere where the loser (the person who lost it) is more likely to find it, for example on the street. Don't take anything. </p>

<p>Clarification for comments: There is a box. And the owner of the box is nowhere to be seen. That box is by definition lost or abandoned - it is abandoned if the owner got rid of it intentionally, it is lost if the owner is looking for it. We don't know. We can make guesses depending on the situation. </p>

<p>No matter whether lost or abandoned, you are legally absolutely fine if you just ignore it. You have no reason to try to return it to its owner. If you don't make it your business, it's not your business. </p>

<p>But if you decide you want the box, or bits of it, and it isn't abandoned (which is hard to know for sure), then you have to try to find the owner first, and if you don't find them, then you can keep it. </p>

<p>Contact the police, advise them of the property find and your suspicion its a prank,  and ask them if they want it (they probably won't), and if not, how long they would recommend you keep it prior to disposing of it.   </p>

<p>Alternatively simply return the items to the location the truck departed from. </p>
