so I had a Tennant who lived in flat of my parents house, she and her sister left without letting me or my parents know. One thing she forgot to do is take most of her things. (she owed me and my parents 3500$ in rent btw) We have her college certificates, passports, nationality card and her laptop. Recently I lost my laptop and need a second one bad because my exams were near but my parents refused to buy me one because my exams were near. So I found the Tennant’s laptop which is a study laptop and formatted it, deleted everything in it, reinstalled windows, bought a charger, cleaned it.
So, AITA for formatting her laptop and using it as my own? and sorry for my bad English, it is not my first language.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. But how long has it been since she left?
Doing this the second she walked out the door, feels opportunistic.
Six months, feels more like she abandoned it and is never coming back.
Info: how long was it left and was she contacted to collect her possessions?
We contacted her several times and several is an understatement btw, it has been 1 year since she left.
Did you call the police to report her missing?
Yta.
Theft is theft
I know theft is theft but what about the 3500$ she owes us, 3500$ is a lot of money for us in our country. We also do t have an eviction system where we can go to a court and just evict her. And also, I am only gonna be using her laptop until my exams are finished after which I was planning to buy a new laptop anyways..
How is it theft, the laptop was left behind and abandoned.
Sure theft is theft, but this isn’t theft.
The laptop was abandoned property.
NTA, you’re saying in comments that it’s a year since she left and she has made no effort to collect her belongings even after your family has contacted her multiple times.
You’re safe to bin all her remaining property.
I am a bit nicer, if I could do a back up before formatting I would have, but without the password you would need image snap shot capabilities, not something the average person has just lying around
NTA, it was abandoned and she owed you 3500. I don’t think there’s a judge that would rule in your favor even if she came back for it
You say left, I’d say gone missing if they left their passports and nationality cards. I would have contacted the police about the fact they have gone missing, not stolen her laptop. So yes you are the A
Even though the police have established that she is not missing, they should have a lost/abandoned property division. Take all her property there and let them deal with it. Get a receipt documenting the items you turn over to them. They will usually keep the items for a certain period of time. Then go on FB and let her know where she can pick up her property, and to contact them to see how long they will hold it before they destroy it. Then it is no longer your problem and you are legally safe.