Quote:
Originally Posted by brecklundin
There is no such thing as "finder's keeper's" on the legal books...if you find something you are required to hand it over to the police (remember the infamous "found" Kindle at an airport and the OP needed to ask if he could keep the thing?) then if nobody ever claims it in specific period of time, then it's yours and the cops will return it to you.
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There are different kinds of "found property," & exactly what duty one has to turn over property depends on statutory law in the particular jurisdiction. (At common law there was generally no such duty.) Property that is probably abandoned is one thing, property that is obviously mislaid is another. And as a practical matter, value plays a role. The cops don't want a Bic pen. The only time I found anything of obvious value & turned it over to the cops, they had nothing to say about my getting it if it went unclaimed by the owner. But it was a wallet with ID in it so there was no point, I suppose.