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Whose Horse is it Anyway?
Recovering Stolen Property
Equine
Legal Solutions received a call earlier this week from a
horse owner whose show mare had been stolen some time
ago. With
the assistance of friends, he was able to locate his
mare, now living on the East Coast. The mare’s current owner had apparently purchased her
without knowing that the mare was stolen and wanted to
“do the right thing,” but had paid a lot of money
for the mare and didn’t want to be left empty-handed.
The mare’s original owner wanted to know who
has the best claim to the mare – him or the current
owner.
The
short answer is that the original owner has the best
right to claim the horse.
Under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code,
which governs the sale of goods (and horses are
considered “goods”), a seller can only transfer the
title that he has (under most circumstances).
If you steal a horse, you do not have any lawful
title to that horse.
When you give or sell that horse to someone else,
you still do not have any lawful title to that horse,
which means that you cannot transfer lawful title to the
recipient. If the recipient gives or sells the horse to yet another
person, they still do not have any lawful title to
transfer. The person from whom you stole the horse still has the best
lawful claim of ownership of the horse.
Now,
how would a lawful owner go about regaining possession
of his horse, assuming that the current owner is not
willing to give the horse back?
Step
1: Gather
all evidence that you own the horse and that it was
stolen from you. For
example, you should make a copy of the police report you
filed when the horse was stolen, any bill of sale or
contract that you signed when you purchased the horse,
the horse’s registration papers showing you as the
registered owner, any canceled check or other evidence
that you paid for the horse, and photos showing you and
the horse together.
Step
2: Approach
local law enforcement in your community and the
community in which the horse now resides.
Explain the situation and ask for their
assistance. Provide
them with any documentation that they may require.
Step
3: If law
enforcement is not able to assist you, hire a local
attorney in the area where the horse now resides to help
you file a civil claim against the current owner.
A simple letter from your attorney may be enough
to help convince the current owner to “do the right
thing.”
A
practical suggestion:
You may want to offer the current owner a cash
“reward” for returning your horse.
Even a few hundred dollars may help reimburse
them for what they paid for the horse and encourage them
to return the horse to you.
Consider that you will likely spend several
thousand dollars in legal fees if you have to take Step
3 above, and if you use some of that money as a reward
instead, you may regain possession of your horse much
more quickly and less expensively than if you had to sue
the current owner.
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