Regarding Disposing Of Someone's Personal Property (non Renter) After They Have Failed To Collect It.

Location: TN

The brevity version is this: A relative has belongings in my home. They have never been on an official co-inhabitant and we have no agreement regarding storage. After failed attempts to arrange collecting their belongings, they keep making excuses. Can I have their belongings removed, junked, auctioned because they are failing to be reasonable and collect them?

I have a family member who has left several large items, furniture, tvs, clothes, etc at my home for several years. They only lived with me sporadically, never paid rent or were placed on any bills, and never had any agreement about storage.

There was a falling out and this person said they wanted to collect their things which I encouraged. I even neatly packed all their personal belongings within the home and put them alongside their other items in my garage.

After nearly a year, this relative did not make any attempts until they called me out of the blue and said they would be there within an hour. They insisted they were coming into the house to look for anything I might not have packed, etc. I was not even at home when they called and said this was unacceptable and offered the following day or next weekend to get their things which they refused, saying they were coming over regardless.

They backed off when I said I would have the police spot check my home. This person’s animosity and irrational behavior had increased, including other veiled and obvious threats. I had to file for a protective order, which I was granted. At the hearing, the relative asked about collecting their things and it was explained how they could do so.

Fast forward several months and they finally asked about getting their things, though I had to re-explain the protective order terms about communication, arranging a time, and that they needed a police escort. A date was arranged and the person canceled the day before citing health problems and rescheduled for the last weekend in March.

This relative just canceled, again, now citing they believe I’m planning some kind of trap? They say that I need to ship their things to them (and I cannot stress, it’s a lot, a large moving truck's worth, not a one man job).

It’s obvious, of course, that I have no obligation to get their belongings to them and they are operating from some kind of mix of pettiness and paranoia. My question is, do I have enough grounds of stonewalling to have their items removed? And, given the nature of my no contact protective order, do I have to inform this person after their canceled attempts and irrational actions? What are my best options going forward?