Finders Keepers

[RiverRat1]

Give your opinion on what situations can be considered finders keepers versus plain stealing.

If you see a person walking 5 feet in front of you drop a $10 bill. What if they are 50' in front of you and it requires too much effort to catch up to them? Is keeping the money stealing?

If you honestly don't see who dropped the money it's not stealing, or is it?

Is there a line on what items you should never keep? Obviously the law would say if you keep something registered such as a car it would be theft. Is it a monetary amount line in the sand?

[PondPopper]

If I find a custom made knife at Wal mart or Bucees I'm keeping it.. I know that much..

[T-roy66]

Give your opinion on what situations can be considered finders keepers versus plain stealing.

If you see a person walking 5 feet in front of you drop a $10 bill. What if they are 50' in front of you and it requires too much effort to catch up to them? Is keeping the money stealing?

If you honestly don't see who dropped the money it's not stealing, or is it?

Is there a line on what items you should never keep? Obviously the law would say if you keep something registered such as a car it would be theft. Is it a monetary amount line in the sand?

You gave all these different senecios, but did not state what you would do.

[LeanMachine]

I don't think I would consider it stealing in any of the described scenarios. But I would consider it morally wrong to not make an effort to return it to the owner if you saw who dropped it.

I found a hundred dollar bill in the total wine parking lot one day. My gut reaction was to avoid it, feeling it was a scam of some kind. Saw no one around and picked it up without breaking stride. Considered turning it in to an employee inside but I figured there was a fair chance they would simply pocket it and claim that someone came back for it. If it had been a wallet with some kind of name or id in it, zero chance I would have kept it.

I also once found a like new stihl trail boss chainsaw on the side of the road by the gym i was at when leaving. I saw no one around. Had a spot of road rash like it likely fell out of a truck and bounced off the road. I couldn't bring myself to just take it, though i really wanted to. I just thought how sick i would be if it was me and how happy i'd be to find it if i went looking. So i put it about 10 yards from the road on a stack of tires outside the gym and left it there. It was still there the next day. I also posted that I had found a gas power tool on facebook to see if I could find the owner. Now it is mine.

[lanceodom]

Pretty simple- if you can make a reasonable effort and exhaust those efforts to get to the original owner then that’s what you should do. If you see them drop any dollar amount walking in to Walmart then you should alert them. If you find a chainsaw on the side of the road and can’t locate the owner with reasonable effort then it’s yours.

[91cavgt]

I make every effort to return things to the rightful owner, sometimes going out of my way to attempt to do so. Including putting ads up stating that I found something of value, in this particular area, and giving small clues as to what it is. After people contact me, I ask for them to tell me exactly what it is and any scratches/dents/dings/markings, basically any minute detail they can tell me that only the original owner knows. If they can do that then I know it is theirs.

In the case of finding a large denomination of cash, I would go into the business where I found it, leave my information with the management, and let them know that I found something valuable, but leave it at that. This way, no one in the store knows what I found, but if the original owner comes looking for it and are given my number, if they can tell me exactly what was lost without me telling them then I know it is theirs.



Otherwise, it is mine.

[Hoggslayer]

I dropped a $100 bill out of my pocket once in Walmart. The guy behind me promptly put his foot on it and started nonchalantly moonwalking backward like he didn't know what had happen. I whipped out my custom damascus knife and told him he better give it back.


The first part was true story. Dude tried to play it off and steal my $100 right in front of my wife and kids. I shoved my basket at him about 40mph and his foot came off the money.

[wickll]

Pretty simple- if you can make a reasonable effort and exhaust those efforts to get to the original owner then that’s what you should do. If you see them drop any dollar amount walking in to Walmart then you should alert them. If you find a chainsaw on the side of the road and can’t locate the owner with reasonable effort then it’s yours.

I agree with this. I just mailed a check for payment to a company today. I was paying an invoice on which I pointed out a mistake they made to the tune of $70. I felt it was my duty to point it out, even though it was to my benefit not to.

I was a little disappointed when they went ahead and billed me the full amount and didn't reward my honesty. Keep in mind that I just spent over $2K with them.

[tdwinklr]

funny this thread came up. A few weeks ago, I took a back road to my house that I do every so often to break the monotony. This day there was a nice 10' step ladder just laying in the ditch, close to the road. Luckily I had my truck that day. The ladder was covered in mud but there was no name, numbers, etc. on it or anything. No one around anywhere, no traffic, no one out looking for it.
Yep, now its mine. Whoever lost it should've tied it down.

[Gumbo Man]

Left the feed store on Tuesday and within a mile on a curve I saw a bag of corn on the side of the road that had slid off of someone else’s truck. I pulled over and backed up to it and loaded it in the back of my truck. I didn’t feel like I should sit there all day waiting to see if the original owner showed up. If I would have seen it happen I would have caught up with the driver and told him.

[S-3 Ranch]

I’m making every effort to return
I have found multiple wallets and purses , keys and usually turn into the management or security team
My mother in law loses her keys, wallet, credit cards, a lot and and I figure it’s bad karma to not make a effort

[glen]

If I can return to owner it doesn’t matter what it is I will- If it’s something valuable and has identifying numbers I’ll try everything I can to get it back- but I do have a crappy igloo ice chest that blew out of someone’s car/truck I use for bait

[Lawhunter]

Keep everything; however, if you want to add entertainment value, make an effort to locate the owner so that he/she will know you found the item. Then, don't return it to said owner.

[TeamAmerica]

I borrow from my kid's piggy bank all the time. if i win the neighborhood poker game, i put the money back. if i lose, it's "finders keepers"....

[ThisLadyHunts]

I have always had "a thing" about owning something I 1) didn't pay for myself or 2) didn't earn. Too many bad things can come of it.