Abandoned bikes

bstapleton

Hi there,

Not wanting to provide too much detail at the moment, but where in law does / is there permission for recovery of abandoned bikes? Also, what defines them as "abandoned"?

Thanks,

Berny

Little CuChulainn

Motorbike or pushbikes? Recovered by whom?

bstapleton

Pushbike.

Well, that's really the question, who has a right to define it as abandoned? What would be that criteria?

Little CuChulainn

bstapleton wrote: »

Pushbike.

Well, that's really the question, who has a right to define it as abandoned? What would be that criteria?

There is no abandoned. It is found property. It has to be handed into a Garda station and can be claimed by the finder after a year if no owner has come forward.

bstapleton

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

There is no abandoned. It is found property. It has to be handed into a Garda station and can be claimed by the finder after a year if no owner has come forward.

Where would that be under law?

Basically, I had a bike removed by someone in my apartment block (From the car park area downstairs) as they were claiming it as abandoned (The fact that they had to cut through two locks and the bike was intact doesn't seem to have affected this persons judgement). His claim is that it was abandoned seemed to have given him some right under law to take it for himself. I was trying to find out if some law exists in regards to taking property after a period of time.....

Little CuChulainn

bstapleton wrote: »

Where would that be under law?

Basically, I had a bike removed by someone in my apartment block (From the car park area downstairs) as they were claiming it as abandoned (The fact that they had to cut through two locks and the bike was intact doesn't seem to have affected this persons judgement). His claim is that it was abandoned seemed to have given him some right under law to take it for himself. I was trying to find out if some law exists in regards to taking property after a period of time.....

He stole your bike. Report it to the Gardaí

Kiith

That's just flat out theft. A bike being left for a few months during the winter doesn't mean it's abandoned. It's just not being used.

hullaballoo

What a bizarre thing to do. There is no law in relation to abandoned personalty in any event. Only in very limited circumstances is it permissible to take ownership over another's property. When it comes to chattels, the

Report the theft to the Gardaí. Is the bike valuable? Has he kept it?

Santa Cruz

Clearly a case of Theft. There is no defence for this

bstapleton

The bike has been returned, I'm just trying to recover some money for the locks that were on the bike now.

Little CuChulainn

bstapleton wrote: »

The bike has been returned, I'm just trying to recover some money for the locks that were on the bike now.

Same advice. Go to Gardaí. It's still theft even if he returned it eventually. It's also criminal damage to cut of a lock.

Pat Mustard

This is not legal advice. And if it was legal advice, it would be exceptionally unprofessional and poor legal advice, by any standards. I have no doubt that there are probably a whole pile of legal risks that one would take by following this course of action. The correct thing is to go to the guards.

If somebody took my bike, I would call up to him and I would take back what is mine. And I would not have any time for any bullsh1t stories about abandonment of property.

End of story.

Santa Cruz

The Mustard wrote: »

This is not legal advice. And if it was legal advice, it would be exceptionally unprofessional and poor legal advice, by any standards. I have no doubt that there are probably a whole pile of legal risks that one would take by following this course of action. The correct thing is to go to the guards.

If somebody took my bike, I would call up to him and I would take back what is mine. And I would not have any time for any bullsh1t stories about abandonment of property.

End of story.

Obliged M'Lud

.ak

It is kind of an interesting thing tho, I've always wondered about it. There's so many abandoned bikes in dublin city centre, like ones that have literally been rusting away for years. Is there no precedent for the city council to remove these? And if so, could a potential owner track it down ?

con___manx1

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

There is no abandoned. It is found property. It has to be handed into a Garda station and can be claimed by the finder after a year if no owner has come forward.

i would keep it and give the gardai the info about the item. doubt they would store a bike at a station anyway. i know somebody who goes out with a garda. she gets iphones and all sorts of stuff that good honest people hand into garda stations.it would make u sick.if that bike is any good one of them will be making there way to work on it next week probably : )

Bepolite

Guards or Small Claims Procedure for property damage if you like.

seamus

.ak wrote: »

It is kind of an interesting thing tho, I've always wondered about it. There's so many abandoned bikes in dublin city centre, like ones that have literally been rusting away for years. Is there no precedent for the city council to remove these? And if so, could a potential owner track it down ?

Basically like all property, the council can deem an abandoned bike to be litter, and can therefore be picked up and disposed of.

For cars this is relatively easy to determine, but for bikes I guess they probably asses the condition of the bike, where it was parked (i.e. Is it locked to a pole or thrown in a ditch), and how long it's been parked there.

The only exception is where notice of removal has been given (such when a public event is coming up), in which case they remove the bike and keep it in storage for the owner to claim. I imagine if it's unclaimed for a year it's thrown in the recycling.

Ole Rodrigo

If a bike has been left there for a long period of time, say over 4 months, would the owner forfeit any rights to it ?

There's one where I regularly park that'd make a nice renovation project. :pac:

Actually its amazing its not in worse nick.

Arbiter of Good Taste

OP what are the full facts? From the way you tell it, it comes across as if you just arrived one day and your bike was gone. Was it locked in the same spot for months on end? Was it blocking an entrance? Was there rust, dirt, etc forming on it? Were you given notice that the bike was considered abandoned? If so, did you advise that was not the case?

Little CuChulainn

con___manx1 wrote: »

i would keep it and give the gardai the info about the item. doubt they would store a bike at a station anyway. i know somebody who goes out with a garda. she gets iphones and all sorts of stuff that good honest people hand into garda stations.it would make u sick.if that bike is any good one of them will be making there way to work on it next week probably : )

Not really. The finder gets a receipt and the property is sent to a central stores. It's something that's kept pretty strict these days. Taking money or property is almost certain to get you fired. If it's so sickening to you then report him.

ror_74 wrote: »

If a bike has been left there for a long period of time, say over 4 months, would the owner forfeit any rights to it ?

There's one where I regularly park that'd make a nice renovation project. :pac:

Actually its amazing its not in worse nick.

No rights forefeited. The rules is to hand it in to the Gardaí and return after a year and a day to see if it has been claimed. If it hasn't you can claim it. Otherwise it goes to auction.