I recently moved out of an apartment which I shared with two roommates. We'll call them A and B. A stayed in the apartment, her boyfriend moved in and they signed a new lease. B moved out and stored her things in the apartment's spare bedroom (with permission from A and her boyfriend) while she stayed with a friend until moving into her new place. When I showed up one Friday after work with to have my sofa and dinette set removed from the apartment (both of which I donated to a community substance abuse home in my neighborhood), I discovered that roommate A had removed my books from my bookshelf that was left in the apartment and put them into boxes for me. How nice of her. She said "you can take these books with you too." I told her "I can't take the books this trip because this mover who's moving this sofa and dinette set for me is not taking them to our (my husband and mine) apartment. I will come back the weekend after next to get the books and take them home in a cab. I will give the bookshelf to super." Her reply was "oh, ok. You can move the books into the spare bedroom with Roommate B's stuff." Roommate A then proceeded to HELP me move the three boxes of books from the hallway into the spare bedroom with Roommate B's belongings.
Two weekends later, I contact Roommate B because I know that the day I told Roommate A that I would be back to remove my books was the same day that Roommate A would be moving her belongings from the spare bedroom. I told Roommate B I would be by the old apartment to get my books. Her response was "she gave your books away. She said she got tired of emailing you so she gave them away last night."
When I texted Roommate A she said "You told me you'd get it last week. I didn't hear from you at all. They're your books, you should have been the one asking about them, not me." She heard me wrong. I clearly said to her TWICE "THE WEEKEND AFTER NEXT" during my last visit. Roommate A has my address, my work address, my phone number and my email address (both personal and work). At no point was a deadline (before discarding) discussed. At no point did she ever contact me letting me know that she would be throwing out my books.
I happen to have a very recent picture of the bookshelf with ALL of the exact books on it that she threw away, taken INSIDE the apartment in the exact spot that the shelf had always been. I tried selling the bookshelf on Craigslist a month or so prior (just before moving out) so I had taken a picture to post in the CL ad.
Some were textbooks from college courses taken, some were makeup books, some were classics, and some were gifts. How do I recover the cost of my discarded books??
Two weekends later, I contact Roommate B because I know that the day I told Roommate A that I would be back to remove my books was the same day that Roommate A would be moving her belongings from the spare bedroom. I told Roommate B I would be by the old apartment to get my books. Her response was "she gave your books away. She said she got tired of emailing you so she gave them away last night."
When I texted Roommate A she said "You told me you'd get it last week. I didn't hear from you at all. They're your books, you should have been the one asking about them, not me." She heard me wrong. I clearly said to her TWICE "THE WEEKEND AFTER NEXT" during my last visit. Roommate A has my address, my work address, my phone number and my email address (both personal and work). At no point was a deadline (before discarding) discussed. At no point did she ever contact me letting me know that she would be throwing out my books.
I happen to have a very recent picture of the bookshelf with ALL of the exact books on it that she threw away, taken INSIDE the apartment in the exact spot that the shelf had always been. I tried selling the bookshelf on Craigslist a month or so prior (just before moving out) so I had taken a picture to post in the CL ad.
Some were textbooks from college courses taken, some were makeup books, some were classics, and some were gifts. How do I recover the cost of my discarded books??
