Sup guys, Just wanted to share my story real quick. I've been meaning to get a bike for some time to commute to work but just haven't had the money. My aunt does apartment clean outs and told me people leave bikes behind all the time. So she calls me up and tells me she has one for me. I show up hoping for at least a wally world bike in decent shape. I get there and it's a Trek. So I'm happy as all hell. I'm thinking it's a bottom level Trek road bike which is still a hell of a nice bike. I get home and look it up online and I have a Trek XO 1. Wow! Definitely more bike than I need but I'm not complaining.

Cool. Take care of it. hope you like it and i hope the owner isnt too mad...

I know huh. I guess their evictions on people who don't pay their rent, so all their stuff is repo'd. You can't imagine the stuff she's found in people apartments.

Get some legal advice. Get it in writing that you are entitled legally to take possession of the goods.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but if I was the tenant, I could be devious enough to report the bike stolen, provide an ID number, provide a suspect (you) and you (and your aunt) end up being charged with theft of property.

Well she's had this bike for quite a while now, so safe to say that's not in the equation. Besides she works for a large company that owns several apartment complexes, so I trust their judgement. Thanks for the heads up though.

Agree. The building owners are breaking the law if they are just giving property away from the tenants they lock out/evict.

lol, dude use your head. There's obviously more to it than that. If the owner was just stealing people's stuff it wouldn't go on very long. Actually it wouldn't go past the first tenant they tried to do that too. My fault for saying eviction. I'm not exactly sure how it comes to belong to the company. All I know is they get all kinds of stuff.

When I cleaned apartment I always found people would leave like half of the liquor cabinets, it's a shame I dont really drink, I could have had so much fun at the age of 18-20. Now that I think about it I shoulda sold the stuff and saved up for a nicer bike.

This is the point. If you don't know, you could still be breaking the law. Get it checked... by an attorney... and don't just rely on what the company tells your aunt.

Yea, people leave all kinds off stuff.

+1

Most people who rent property have clauses in the contract about items left more than x number of days I believe. Bike shops usually have something in the paperwork you sign too about how if a bike is left more than so many days it belongs to the shop. They have to. People leave crap all the time.

I used to work for a mini-warehouse company. All the facility managers made a good second income from selling the stuff people left after they moved out. The stuff left behind after an eviction is required to be auctioned off after going through all the proper notifications, etc. Stuff people leave behind after they move out and turn in their keys is considered abandoned and you can have it.

Getting it through the proper legal channels doesn't mean that the tennant didn't steal it from somebody else and leave it behind when they moved. It would be a good idea to make sure it's not reported stolen.

just ride the damn bike

any pics?

+1, I really doubt anybody who abandoned their junk is going to hunt you down and prosecute for their bike. Heck, if they could prove it was theirs, just give it back. Nothing lost.

This.

I don't think the OP would get charged with anything. He might end up having to give the bike back if they tried hard enough. But I doubt it.

Some foolish soul bought a bike he didn't love and when he moved out, probably broke or half broke, he assumed there was no liquid value for the bike and just left it. His loss, he could have easily gotten $500 for it on CL.

Wow, I can't believe how people here got so easily distracted by the whole legal issue they forgot the most important thing - pics or it didn't happen.

So correct. Ever watch the Sorage Wars show on TV? It is amazing the stuff people just abandon.

OP - A free bike is only good if the frame size is the right size.

If the property was abandoned, I doubt very much anyone is out there searching for it. If it's an eviction, it's not unusual to have all the property dumped on the sidewalk for people to rummage through.

Enjoy your bike.

Just ride it. But post pics first.

That's a sweet bike to get for free.

I still don't see pics.

If people would stop by the dumpster on their way in instead of on their way out, most people could rent a unit no more than 1/2 the size they do.