Join our FREE personalized newsletter for news, trends, and insights that matter to everyone in America

Newsletter
New

Roommates Removed My Dining Room Table (free Fb Marketplace) While I Was Gone. Strong Proof It’s Mine. Suspect It’s Stored Upstairs In Locked Room. Options Short Of Small Claims?

Card image cap

Location: Florida
I live in Florida with roommates. While I was out all day yesterday, they took my dining room table from the shared apartment between 7:15am and 8pm when I got home.
The table was free on Facebook Marketplace. I have the complete conversation with the seller arranging pickup, proof I paid a friend gas money to help retrieve it, and photos showing the table in the home before it disappeared. I strongly suspect one roommate is keeping it upstairs in her currently locked room . The suspected roommate doesn’t get keys to her new place until July 1st.
I reported it as theft to the sheriff at 10:30pm. An officer came out late. They documented my statement but said common area makes ownership hard to prove. No full formal report for pert theft. Officer asked if I wanted to prosecute , and I said I wasn’t sure.
I texted the roommate asking her to return it no response. I also talked to another upstairs who is moving in with her and another one of the roommates all who are hostile to me . She said she didn’t know anything and that the roommate I suspect the most broke her foot and can’t walk upstairs, I do already know this information it’s been broken for months. She has also tried to get out of paying her portion of the utilities with her reasoning being she not been there. I had to explain to her how it works and that if she lived alone the utility companies would not care if she was there or not. The utilities are in her name and she’s been spitting them by 4 not 5 when there are five people who live there and is omitting herself , she did this without a conversation or any prior notification. The last other roommate who is also moving in with her has blocked me.
I’d rather avoid small claims court or prosecution if possible. What steps should I take? Push for a formal police report with my evidence? Request a civil standby? Involve the landlord? Send a demand letter? Any Florida-specific advice is appreciated. I just want my table back .

Thanks.

submitted by /u/SpaceDorito13
[link] [comments]