Contractor finds 200k in cash in a wall of reno

[quogueelectric]

What would you do????? Honestly....... http://news.aol.com/article/cash-windfall-is-contractors-nightmare/241967?icid=200100397x1212319494x1200836413

[mdshunk]

Considering the lawsuit that developed after that, I'd probably just give it to the homeowner. It's theirs anyhow.

[Pierre C Belarge]

Years ago, a family sold their father's home, he had passed away and they lived in another state. They sold the house "As Is".


Well it turns out that their father (a retired plumber) had stashed his cash all over the house, his piano, stove, dryer, etc...

The new owners found the money, as was enevitable - about $150,000. The original family sued for the money but lost. The house being sold as is was the clincher for the new homeowners...more than they paid for the house. 8-):D

[Podagrower]

Absolutly, positively, without a doubt-I would give the homeowner the 100K I found:D





I'm sure I would give it to the homeowner as well, but I wanted to say I'd keep it first

[tonyou812]

I would just give it to the homeowner. Its hers to begin with, regardless if someone else acually found it. She owns the house that includes the stuff in the walls. About a year ago I found a bunch of New York Times newspapers in a wall from when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and I showed it to the homeowner and she just went "Oh thats nice, You can have them what am I gonna do with them.". I was thrilled being that I am a big space buff. They really arent worth much monetaraly, but the thought never crossed my mind to try to walk out of the house with them.
I would do the same even if it was cash. My parents didnt raise me that way.
I think that contractor had a lot of nerve asking for 40 percent.

[resistance]

I'm sure any honest person will give it to the HO!

[220/221]

It would hurt but in this case, I'd have to give it up to the family.

If I found some drug money it would be a different story.

[resistance]

If I found some drug money it would be a different story. ???? In the HO's house, or on the street???

If it's in the HO's house, then the honesty still stands!

How would you know it's drug money?

[mdshunk]

How would you know it's drug money?
You need to lick it to find out.

[tonyou812]

I seem to have a knack for finding some really interesting things just laying around in peoples homes. Ive come across Pot stashes, a few guns, naked drawings of the Wife, some sex toys,big wads of cash you name it. For some reason people think that the tops of dressers or behind night stands are a good hiding spot for stuff. Im sure they put them there and forget. But my favorite was one time I was snaking a wire in a basement and I pushed my fiber snake over some air ducts and a bunch of papers fell to the floor on the other side. so I went over to pick them up and they were about 20 or so drawings of the guys wife doing some "Dirty" stuff. I could feel my face start to blush and quickly put them back and looked for a different route to run my wires. From then on every time I saw the lady I couldnt help and smirke a little.

But let me add I dont look for stuff I just happen to see them when Im on a ladder cutting in lights or cans or moving some furniture to add an outlet or what ever.

[480sparky]

It's the HOs, pure and simple.

[electricguy]

Is that Reno Contractor modifying an electrical installation and extending circuits. I would of had the permi posted on the wall :D

[mdshunk]

"contractor is responsible for all debris removal and disposal, and will leave the site in a broom clean condition". :grin:

[frenchelectrican]

I will just leave this wad of cash to the HO and let them decided what to do with it.

The last time I found wad of cash it was about 10K and the HO split in half I told the HO it your due it was in the building and he say it fair due I am very honest with it.

Merci,Marc

[ivsenroute]

This came up in another non-contractor forum and my opinion is still the same. The money belongs to the homeowner and the contractor has no stake in the claim at all. I would have handed the money over with no further requests.

[satcom]

This came up in another non-contractor forum and my opinion is still the same. The money belongs to the homeowner and the contractor has no stake in the claim at all. I would have handed the money over with no further requests.

But he may be a Banker, moonlighting as a contractor, so Greed is in his DNA

[resistance]

You need to lick it to find out.OH, I see! :grin:

Now it would be a shame to see someone lick the drugs, become addicted, then give the money right back to the drug dealer:D

[electricmanscott]

I'dhand them the cash. I'd also hand them the bill...for 200K. :D

[resistance]

I'dhand them the cash. I'd also hand them the bill...for 200K. :D I like that! LOL!!! :D

You have a spot with our company any day you want to start! :wink:

[quogueelectric]

I returned a wallet with 3600 in cash a tennis pro in WestHampton and he looked at me like I owed him money when he came to get his wallet didnt offer a dime. No good deed goes unpunished. I would do the same today but I would probably do a little fishing before I handed it it right back. Make them think about it for a day or so .

[Greg Swartz]

It's in the wall of the HomeOWNER's house... hmmm... who does it belong too??? I just cant figure it out...

It does not matter who finds it... you are still on the premesis of the HO... it belongs to them.

And the 21 relatives... how did they even have a shot at it?

I would have been more than happy with the 10%.

Just give me 10% of the old bills... they would be worth far more than the face value. There are too many collectors that would pay 2x, 5x, or more.

The contractor had no right to claim ANY portion of the money... none.

I can't do "finders...keepers" in a store, so why would it be any different at a home?

[ivsenroute]

It's in the wall of the HomeOWNER's house... hmmm... who does it belong too??? I just cant figure it out...

It does not matter who finds it... you are still on the premesis of the HO... it belongs to them.

And the 21 relatives... how did they even have a shot at it?

I would have been more than happy with the 10%.

Just give me 10% of the old bills... they would be worth far more than the face value. There are too many collectors that would pay 2x, 5x, or more.

The contractor had no right to claim ANY portion of the money... none.

I can't do "finders...keepers" in a store, so why would it be any different at a home?


Great answer, and Semper Fi there "shower shoe"

[cowboyjwc]

Every dead animal I have ever found under a house, I turned over to the HO right away.:D

[steelersman]

What would you do????? Honestly....... http://news.aol.com/article/cash-windfall-is-contractors-nightmare/241967?icid=200100397x1212319494x1200836413
it was $182,000 not $200,000. And I would have at least pocketed some of it (maybe all of it depending on what kind of customer it was)

[steelersman]

And the 21 relatives... how did they even have a shot at it?

I can't do "finders...keepers" in a store, so why would it be any different at a home?

The relatives deserve a portion of it at the very least.

And the difference from a store and a house is a store is selling things to make money, and a house is not (not sure why that needs explaining) so of course you can't expect to "find" something in a store and claim it. If it weren't for the contractor then the money wouldn't have ever been found, at least not by the homeowner. So I think the contractor should receive a portion of the money. I have yet to read an honest reply of "I would want some of the money, or I would skim some off the top for myself first" , but I'm still reading some posts so I'll see.....:)_

[cowboyjwc]

He was offered 10% and said he wanted 40%. I would have taken the 10%. The relatives would never have known about it if it hadn't gone to court and she's now saying that all of the money is gone and she's in hawk up to her eye balls. Greed is a funny thing.

I'm not sure that anyone could give an honest answer until it happens to them. What if one of your kids was sick? Your wife? Your folks were losing their house?

I once heard an interesting question asked. If you found drugs, you know it's drugs, you know you can sell it for $100,000 and you are not going to be caught. What do you do?

[growler]

I once heard an interesting question asked. If you found drugs, you know it's drugs, you know you can sell it for $100,000 and you are not going to be caught. What do you do?


I don't deal in drugs for any amount of money. May as well just shoot the people outright as sell them poison. But if I find a large amount of money and the real owner is long dead I would probably just keep it and keep my mouth shut. If the owner is still alive I would make an effort to return said money.

Edit: I will add that so far I haven't had to make this decision. I have found a wallet with a few bucks in it and it was return to it's rightful owner.

[cowboyjwc]

Edit: I will add that so far I haven't had to make this decision. I have found a wallet with a few bucks in it and it was return to it's rightful owner.

Yeah me too. Even drove it over to the guys house. He sure was thrilled to see me.:smile:

[growler]

Yeah me too. Even drove it over to the guys house. He sure was thrilled to see me.:smile:

I just did a check on an inflation calculator to see how much 182K from the late 1930's would be worth in today's money. I used the year of 1938 and 2008 and it appears that the 182K from that time would be worth about 2.8 million in todays inflated world. Very few people lose that kind of money and just forget where they put it. I'll bet there is an interesting story as to where all that money came from to start with ( you know, in cash ). ;)

[Rockyd]

It belongs to the HO. If they care to offer up a 10% reward...cool. I would only tell the home owner, it is up to them to tell who they want to tell. I operate on fact that it's not a lie if I don't say anything, it is their private business as to why money might be in the wall, it's not mine to ponder. Besides that, if they talk, an it's a positive ligh on you, look at the lead potntial!

As far as it being drug money? Can't tell. I remember a story about two guys in Florida being charged with having "drug money". Sure enough, there was Cocaine on every bill. So the sharp laywer had a court appointed person go get money from a bank in town, sure enough, it was all tainted too. Circumstantial evidence is often weak, and should help to make the case, not be the case maker. That said though, if there is prima facie evidence, to support the facts, let's lock the criminals up. You can't know what makes other tick.

I'd be tickled pink to receive $20,000 for for the find. Favorite charities (http://www.klamathbucketbrigade.org/) come to mind, at 10%:).

[480sparky]

I think there'sa legal precedence that states if previous ownership of the money can be proven, then it legally belongs to that person.

In other words, if the descendents of the person who hid it there can prove it belonged to their ancestor, then they can lay legal claim to all of it.

If that fails, then it (and all of it) belongs to the homeowner. If the HO wants to be generous, and offer the guy a stake, then that's his/her choice.

Years ago, I had an elderly neighbor decide it was time to sell the house and move to a skilled-care facility. Auctioneer spent hours in the basement sorting tons of boxes of stuff. Poor woman never knew what was down there. Come to find out, her husband, who worked for the railroad for years, had been stashing railroad stocks in the bottom of the boxes. He had passed away years ago, and his widow never knew about it.

Come the day of the auction, folks were buying boxes of this and that.... household stuff like pots and pans, old dishes, whatnot. In the bottom of the boxes were thousands of dollars worth of paper. Some found it, and kept quiet, but most who knew her returned it as it rightfully belonged to her.

[Sparky555]

I have yet to read an honest reply of "I would want some of the money, or I would skim some off the top for myself first" , but I'm still reading some posts so I'll see.....:)_

No wonder contractors get a bad reputation. The correct answer is:

It doesn't belong to me.
It's not mine.
Taking something that's not mine is stealing.
A finder's reward is a gift to be grateful for, not a requirement.

[Fulthrotl]

As far as it being drug money? Can't tell. I remember a story about two guys in Florida being charged with having "drug money". Sure enough, there was Cocaine on every bill. So the sharp laywer had a court appointed person go get money from a bank in town, sure enough, it was all tainted too. Circumstantial evidence is often weak, and should help to make the case, not be the case maker.


truth be told, with the current sampling and testing technology available
today, i'd be willing to bet there aren't very many $100 bills in circulation
that don't have cocaine residue on them..... and back in the 1970's, i can
assure you that there weren't ANY $100 bills without drug residue on them.

nope. not a one. my deeply held suspicion is that god created cocaine to
teach electricians they were making too much money.:rolleyes:

most likely the money came from the bank panics and closures of
the early 1930's, and the person who hid it passed away, obviously
telling no one.:smile:

many people who lived thru the 1930's were pretty scarred by the
experience... when my mom died at 83, we had to spend 12 hours
going thru a 2 bedroom house, looking for hidden money.. little bits
of it everywhere.... $100 bills hidden in with paid phone bills, you'd be
going thru old papers, and find $100's and $50's... found a 1 carat
diamond buried at the bottom of a box of quaker oats... cereal had
to be sifted, ice cream melted, every piece of paper in two filing
cabinets opened and unfolded...

and bank accounts.... she had opened and closed over 80 bank
accounts in the 6 years before she died, afraid someone was going
to steal her money... playing a shell game with her savings.
straightening all that out took 3 months.

most depression kids were hoarders.
my mom sure was.
sounds like this one was as well.


randy

[Fulthrotl]

I think there's a legal precedence that states if previous ownership of the money can be proven, then it legally belongs to that person.

at least as far as maritime law is concerned, that is true, but maritime law
also awards salvage rights of 10% to the finder or salvage company.
(that's of the pre salvage value, i believe)

i'd guess that under the circumstances, 10% being split by the finders
and 90% going to the heirs would be appropriate... and as mister ito
mentioned in an unrelated post, found objects are fully taxable as income.

i'm sure the irs came looking for their share of that woman's money....
poor thing, losing $60,000 of it in a shoebox:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

i suspect the IRS will not accept her verson of that, and will want their
third.... stupidity is not tax deductible.... i am walking proof of that.

randy

[steelersman]

No wonder contractors get a bad reputation. The correct answer is:

It doesn't belong to me.
It's not mine.
Taking something that's not mine is stealing.
A finder's reward is a gift to be grateful for, not a requirement.
Not really. Contractors get a bad rep from not completing jobs on time, not completing jobs, and shoddy work, not from finding money in a customers wall and showing it to her and hoping for fair share. I think I would be satisfied with 10%, however on the other hand if I hadn't found it, the HO would get 0%, which then makes me think 40% or even so bold a number as 50% should be a fair split.

[Rockyd]

I think I would be satisfied with 10%, however on the other hand if I hadn't found it, the HO would get 0%, which then makes me think 40% or even so bold a number as 50% should be a fair split.

Your karma will be your dogma.

As being a part time property rights activist at times, I'd hate to have you writing law.

Here is the 5th Amendment -


No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that it says what is yours, is yours, whether you know you possess it, or not.

[quogueelectric]

it was $182,000 not $200,000. And I would have at least pocketed some of it (maybe all of it depending on what kind of customer it was)

I counted 200k when I was there, that greedy so and so only said 182k??

[electricmanscott]

I found this sweeet tv in a customers living room today....should I keep it?

If not what percentage do you think I am entitled to? :rolleyes:

[480sparky]

I found this sweeet tv in a customers living room today....should I keep it?

If not what percentage do you think I am entitled to? :rolleyes:


Depends. Is it a crappy 60", or a nice 96"?

[ohm]

This is an interesting thread.

I wonder if the folks who said keep the bucks and run condem the cops who stumble on cash from drugs, robbery etc. and pocket a little to pay for the baby's operation? Actually, why would anyone risk their life every day for close to minimum wage?

I say if you didn't take it in it, ain't yours.

[cowboyjwc]

I just did a check on an inflation calculator to see how much 182K from the late 1930's would be worth in today's money. I used the year of 1938 and 2008 and it appears that the 182K from that time would be worth about 2.8 million in todays inflated world. Very few people lose that kind of money and just forget where they put it. I'll bet there is an interesting story as to where all that money came from to start with ( you know, in cash ). ;)

Would be fun to hear it. I bet that Randy is on the right track though, just someone who had been through hard times and wasn't going to let that happen again.

My mom was kind of like that lived on a ranch growing up, didn't even have electricity until she was 16 or so. Not really a horder but, left over hamburger and mashed potatos became sheperds pie, turkey became turkey soup, meatloaf became sandwhichs for lunch, if we had ham one night you could bet we were having ham and beans soon. Nothing got wasted.:smile:

[Besoeker]

Interesting thread.
"I can resist everything except temptation."
Oscar Wilde.

Obviously the money wasn't the contractor's.
Maybe a sensible outcome would been have for him agreed to have enough of the windfall cash in an escrow account to ensure that he got paid for his work.

[MAK]

I think there'sa legal precedence that states if previous ownership of the money can be proven, then it legally belongs to that person.

Good thing they don't have to pay taxes from the 1930's. Imagine what the IRS could stick you for if they had the juice running all that time on that cash.:wink:

[480sparky]

Good thing they don't have to pay taxes from the 1930's. Imagine what the IRS could stick you for if they had the juice running all that time on that cash.:wink:


I'd much rather pay the tax rate from 1930s than todays' (stifling) rate.

[MAK]

I'd much rather pay the tax rate from 1930s than todays' (stifling) rate.

I agree. I was thinking imagine if the IRS could make the heirs that laid claim to the money pay "late fees" on all that unreported cash. That would probably be a few bucks.

[SEO]

I'd give the homeowner the money and if they offered a finders fee I would gracefully take it.

[charlietuna]

working in a resturant ceiling and looked down inside a partition with my flashlight and saw a toy gun? Like a "Dick Tracy" type gun? i reached down and as i picked it up - i realized it was too heavy to be a toy!! Oh boy! the dust on it told me it had been there for some time! Another look and i could see that it was sitting on a leather money bag? I reached down and picked it up and saw another money bag under it? i opened the first bag and it was packed with cash--didn't have to look in the second one to know it also had cash. Worked my way back to the scuttle hole and went to the owner's office! there were two owners! Soon as they saw the gun--they both about dropped to the floor! What had happened many years before, was one of them thought they were going to robbed one night--some guys had come in and someone eating in the place told them they were going to be robbed! One of the owners went to the office with the last two night's reciepts and the gun they kept in the office and hid the money and gun up in the electric room hole in the wall. they were never robbed and he thought his partner had picked up the money-which he didn't ! well there was $16k+ in the money bags---guess that was "PURE PROFIT"??? I got a "THANK YOU" !

[charlietuna]

In an very old house on Miami Beach a electrician and his helper were remodeling and opening walls. rumor has it they came across a wall full of cash! neither one was ever heard from since????

[MAK]

well there was $16k+ in the money bags---guess that was "PURE PROFIT"??? I got a "THANK YOU" !

Well did you get your finders fee? I think it's supposed to be 40%!:D

[growler]

In an very old house on Miami Beach a electrician and his helper were remodeling and opening walls. rumor has it they came across a wall full of cash! neither one was ever heard from since????

The electrician is living in the Bahamas and the helper is with the fishys ( Davy Jones Locker ). :D:D