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Craigslist: landlord's nightmare in Tacoma »

Posted by: populist 2 years, 7 months ago

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Thanks to an ad on craigslist, a Tacoma house went from empty rental to empty shell. The Internet ad invited readers to come to the address and take anything they wanted.

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populist

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Comments: 22

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Jordan
April 5, 2007, 7:56 p.m.
This is amazing and scary. I wonder if they'll be able to track down the offender.
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zplan
April 5, 2007, 9:56 p.m.
I hope they get everyone involved. How can just an ad be binding so that so many could just get away with taking things? Who in the hec would believe that they could just walk into a place and start taking things without any authority of some kind? Holy cow. What if someone placed an ad inviting all to a free trip to the moon?
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natashas
April 6, 2007, 9:27 a.m.
So much for neighborhood watch!
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pacificmist
April 6, 2007, 11:42 a.m.
this is not the first time I have heard about things going bad after a post like this. There are just people out there waiting for things like this. I posted something on Craigs list for my son once and you can't believe the calls I got. You just have to be careful how you word things you put on the net because people will read what they want it to say.
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joeblowe
April 6, 2007, 11:49 a.m.
Now, Now, let's not get excited here. I'm SURE that everyone who went there and took something will replace it immediately soon as they hear it was just a scam. /end humor/
My mother used to say that everyone had a little bit of larceny in them. I've always thought she was a bit too cynical. After hearing about this, I'm starting to think maybe not cynical enough.
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Redneck
April 6, 2007, 12:06 p.m.
One has to wonder how the doors were left unlocked. Sounds fishy to me. Must have been the sister if she was living in the place before this happened.
Even if the owner has been an absolute jerk no one should have stolen from him or set it up so others could. Family sometimes are the wrost "renters" one can have. Even with them one needs an ironclad contract which one will enforce! I have watched this over the years I recommend everyone write out a contract so all things are clear from the beginning. At least if one person violates the contract all parties knew what was expected. :-)
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elll
April 6, 2007, 12:40 p.m.
If I read an ad that said "take anything you want for free" I'd think it was a dump and not worthwhile. If I got there and it was a nice house, nobody home....I'd be suspicious and leave with NOTHING!
The people responding to the ad are just as guilty as the person placing the it.
If it's TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE........
SusanParrishComment has been removed: User banned.
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ABANOCLA
April 6, 2007, 12:55 p.m.
CRAIGSLIST: One exwife, free for the taking, please pick up at .............lmao
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thomas998
April 6, 2007, 3:14 p.m.
The act is as disturbing as the lack of action by the police. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/205655...
according to this article the police wont be pressing any charges against anyone. They claim its a civil matter.
Somehow I would think that fraud (listing something that wasnt yours as yours), wirefraud (if they phoned it in or used the internet), conspiracy could all be applied to the person who placed the add. And if you want to get pick, receipt of stolen property, vandalism, tresspass, larceny... all come to mind with respect to the people taking stuff.
I know they will claim they thought it was free, but if you buy something from someone and its stolen it isn't a defense to say you didn't know if the price was such that a reasonable person would have known or suspect it.
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Dharma
April 6, 2007, 3:27 p.m.
The police aren't going to do anything about this because it is a civl matter?! WTF! That makes absolutly NO sense! So if I shoot my brother, or rob his house, they won't investigate because its family? If they aren't going to investigate cause its family it should be illegal to rent to family. What if her sister hadn't been paying the rent for months on end or something similar? This woman better hope her homeowners insurance covers this or she is going to have to rebuild ( VERY expensive in this case) or sell at a loss.......
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elll
April 6, 2007, 5:27 p.m.
I'm thinking the police might have gotten more involved if the tenant had SOLD the stuff instead of giving it away. Any landlord/tenant problem (finacial, damage, etc) is normally not taken care of by the police. From my experience, it's usually something that ends up in small claims court. Theft of "service" is typically handled like that.