Found Gun

[dicion]

They're just doing their job.

The real problem is people buying things that they cannot afford, and banks lending to people that they shouldn't have.

Granted, there's always a case of "I lost my job, and can't afford it, and if you take it, you're killing my ability to get a new job!" (Car)
My answer: You should have saved more money while you had a job, or maybe bought a cheaper car. Also, there's public transportation in some places. Use that.

[TDDude]

I would appreicate some advice. I am in the automobile business whereby we repossess vehicles that default on our finance contracts. I picked up a vehicle that the owner was unfortunately killled in an accident...... Please advise.

Call the police and tell them you are looking to "acquire" a pistol and you want to make sure the serial number is clean.

They can probably look it up while you wait.

I have a friend who is an HPD burglary detective and I always give him a call with any used (but new to me) purchase I'm considering.

I missed the part about the previous owner being dead. The original question was asking for advice.

As a gun owner, I'd like to think that firearms would be a big part of how I'll be remembered when I shuffle off this coil. I know that my son would like to keep any gun that I own and he has told me this. Even at 12 yrs old he tells me "You know, Dad, when tou die, I'm going to want that one and that one, and that one, and oh yeah, that one over there.......". And yes, he's a wonderful boy.

The point is, there's a good chance that the family will want the pistol as a keepsake the same as as if a wedding band or photo album had been found.

I would give first crack at it to the family and then I would go through the procedure of making sure the gun was clean.

[dicion]

The point is, there's a good chance that the family will want the pistol as a keepsake the same as as if a wedding band or photo album had been found.

I would give first crack at it to the family and then I would go through the procedure of making sure the gun was clean.

As said before, this was Reposessed after the owner died. When the owner died, the vehicle would probably have passed to next of kin before it got repo'd.

That means that the family, if any, was more then likely given the chance to take posession of the vehicle (and the debt) associated with it, and chose not to, or did take posession of it, but refused to, or couldn't pay the debt associated with it.

A Repo doesn't happen overnight. It generally takes quite a bit of time (months), notices, paperwork, and blatent non-payment of the debt to force a vehicle reposession.

The family more then likely had ample time to retrieve the pistol from the vehicle if they wanted it, or knew about it.

[stash]

OSR - I would be interested to know how this turns out as far as getting the HPD to run the serial# for you and if they took the gun into their possession and if they gave it back to you if the gun was clean.

Stash

[TDDude]

double post deleted???

[TDDude]

The point is, there's a good chance that the family will want the pistol as a keepsake the same as as if a wedding band or photo album had been found.

I would give first crack at it to the family and then I would go through the procedure of making sure the gun was clean.

As said before, this was Reposessed after the owner died. When the owner died, the vehicle would probably have passed to next of kin before it got repo'd.

That means that the family, if any, was more then likely given the chance to take posession of the vehicle (and the debt) associated with it, and chose not to, or did take posession of it, but refused to, or couldn't pay the debt associated with it.

A Repo doesn't happen overnight. It generally takes quite a bit of time (months), notices, paperwork, and blatent non-payment of the debt to force a vehicle reposession.

The family more then likely had ample time to retrieve the pistol from the vehicle if they wanted it, or knew about it.

Well, there ya' go!! Ask me what you will about the AV business. The Repo business is greek to me as I do strive to pay my bills.

That car wouldn't happen to be an 04 or 05 Ford Excursion diesel would it?? I'm in the market for one.

[OldSchoolRules]

Once again, thanks to all for the input. I spoke with the a homicide division (they handle this issue) and was told I cannot legally own the gun regardless of the circumstancesn with our customer and their belongings. I must turn the gun over to them and they will run the numbers and unless my name comes back as the owner they will keep the gun and investigate the owner history. I called dispatch and they are sending someoneout to pick it up. So, there you go..........

[joe817]

Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out the way you wanted OldSchoolRules. But take pride in knowing you did the right thing. And in so doing probably saved yourself many awful headaches. Well done!

[dicion]

Once again, thanks to all for the input. I spoke with the a homicide division (they handle this issue) and was told I cannot legally own the gun regardless of the circumstancesn with our customer and their belongings. I must turn the gun over to them and they will run the numbers and unless my name comes back as the owner they will keep the gun and investigate the owner history. I called dispatch and they are sending someoneout to pick it up. So, there you go..........

This sounds completely Fishy... I doubt that he was correct in saying this.

There's a saying. Never call the cops and ask them they law. It tells them that you don't know it, and they can make up whatever they want to.

Should have called a lawyer instead, and asked them. You should Still call a lawyer on this. Hope you got a receipt for the gun. Tell them you need it for Tax Purposes or something, since it was inventoried as a belonging. Don't let them leave without giving you one.

[TDDude]

Once again, thanks to all for the input. I spoke with the a homicide division (they handle this issue) and was told I cannot legally own the gun regardless of the circumstancesn with our customer and their belongings. I must turn the gun over to them and they will run the numbers and unless my name comes back as the owner they will keep the gun and investigate the owner history. I called dispatch and they are sending someoneout to pick it up. So, there you go..........

This is horse hockey.

[aardwolf]

Once again, thanks to all for the input. I spoke with the a homicide division (they handle this issue) and was told I cannot legally own the gun regardless of the circumstancesn with our customer and their belongings. I must turn the gun over to them and they will run the numbers and unless my name comes back as the owner they will keep the gun and investigate the owner history. I called dispatch and they are sending someoneout to pick it up. So, there you go..........

There is no gun registration in Texas. Even if you bought the gun with cash at Academy there's no way the gun comes back with you as the owner.

I think you got scammed.

[stevie_d_64]

Did the deceased have a family?
If so, would not they have a claim on personal property?

Just a thought----

Bingo!!!

We had turned in a vehicle after the lease was up...BTW, we'll never lease a vehicle again...I don't give a care what or how good the deal is...Never again...

Anyway, we cleaned out our posessions in the vehicle and took it back to the dealer to finish the deal...What we forgot was the fact that we left 6 CD's in the stereo system, that only after the vehicle was swabbed and sent to another state did we get a call from the dealer up in Flint, Mich. did we know that we forgot the CD's...They tracked us back to the dealer we turned it back into ourselves, and got a hold of us themselves, not the dealer we leased and turned the vehicle back into...

Long story short...The Flint dealership packaged up our CD's, and shipped them to us on their dime...No where (up there) did anyone just assume the CD's were theirs to decide what to do with, nor did our dealership (down here) even try to make it right, or at least call us to help figure it out...

If it ain't yours, turn it in and let others figure it out in cases like this...

Yes, there is a difference between CD's and firearms...Yet the situation is still the same...You cannot just arbitrarily decide (no matter who you are, or what your are charged with doing at your job) what you are going to catalog for return to the owner, or relatives in this case, and see something "interesting" and see if you can keep it...

[rbraughn]

IANAL,

But IMO just because you are entitled to repossess a vehicle should not allow you to keep the contents of said vehicle. They are separate from the vehicle.

If you hold lein to the vehicle, you are entitled to that vehicle, but what if the handgun is a family heirloom?
I think the family is entitled to the gun.

They may not have claimed the gun because they aren't even aware it exists.

[boomerang]

From the OP:

was never claimed (law requires we hold personal belongings for 30 days and notify owner by mail).