Posted by David Sherman on Monday, May 02, 2005 at 11:06AM :
Does anybody know the law about what I'm allowed to do with a car that's been abandoned on my property? I have a lot in Montana that I don't go to very much, and I discovered last weekend that somebody left a car on it. I'm pretty sure it was a woman who has a lot next door covered with junk (not good junk, just trash and dead cars) that she was getting flak from the homeowners association over (my lot's not in the homeowners association). I don't really care too much if the car sits there, but it happens to be a honda that has some parts on it I could use on my honda, starting with some pretty good tires. I would part out the body as well, since it has no rust and most body panels are in good shape. It has 230,000 miles on it, so I expect the engine's worn out along with most of the mechanicals as hondas are notorious for having everything wear out shortly after 200,000 miles. So my question is, since this car just appeared on my place without anybody asking me, can I just assume it's mine now and help myself to the parts and scrap what's left? Anybody have any experience with having somebody "give" them a vehicle this way?
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