Bought A House, Property Left Behind, Now Wanted Back

Location: WV

TLDR: Original owner left mower behind that was dead. I have 400 bucks into it just to get it running and out of my way. Now he wants me to buy it or take it back. What rights do I have over this thing...better said, because I don't care about it, what rights do I have to get my money back if he tries to take it back?

We closed on our home early Nov. 2024. This particular home was built/completed around 2018. The original owners listed mid-2022 and it was purchased by second owners early 2023. The second owners, as we were told, missed home (they were from FAR away) and listed for sale late 2023. It was on the market for a year before we purchased.

At closing, the sellers agent said to me something along the lines of: Mr. xxxxx wanted to know if you want all of material left in and around the house or if he needed to make arrangements for someone to clean it out. I'm a DIY'er so no biggie and there was some things from the build that I wanted to keep. I told her I'd take care of it.

One of the items in the garage was a mower. When I looked at this mower, it was pretty beat up (although a very nice mower new). All four tires were flat. It would not start (keys were left in it). I needed to get the thing moving and out of the way so I purchased two new tires. The fronts only needed pumped up. Since it was the winter season, I tossed the new tires in the corner and left it sit where it was.

One day late Jan 2025 (~3 months of ownership), I'm outside dealing with the snow and the original owner drives up and introduces himself. We spoke about the house, the history, why they left...etc. He then says he needs to come and pick up the mower as it was his he left behind. I said I wasn't aware of that and stated what the realtor said. He kind of chuckled at me after I said I purchased tires for it - one of those chuckles like I was trying to get something for free or whatever. Kind of condescending. He told me to tell him what I paid for the tires and left it at that.

The damn tractor sits in the same spot in the garage ALL of 2025 because I'm not putting another penny or minute of my time into something someone said they were coming to take. About a month ago I get sick of it being in the way and I get the tires mounted. I had to get a new battery to start it. It was out of gas so I put some in and it would barely run. I had to do some carb work and finally it started running.

Issue: So after over a year-and-a-half, just after I got in running again, the owner stops by and asks about it. He said he forgot all about it since he ended up not needing it. He said I could buy it from him or he could get it out of the way.

Question: I honestly don't care about this thing as I already have mowers and such and I'm not a fan of this brand/type of mower. Maybe I'd buy it if the price was right, but what if he wants some outrageous price for it? I probably have 400 bucks into this thing just to get it moving and out of my way. Can he just come and "take it"?