Here is an interesting story [cleveland.com] from the city that I live in (Lakewood, OH). Let's say that you buy a house, and pay a contractor to remodel part of it. The contractor finds $182,000 in Depression-era currency hidden in the walls. Who does the money belong to -- The current owner, the original owner, or the contractor?
How does the contractor have any stake? I think that most would agree that the current owner should get the money.
But wait, the story gets weirder. It's just not that simple (somehow, it never is). From the article:
"Kitts was working at Reece's home in May 2006 when he knocked a hole in her wall. He found several boxes of money, some wrapped in paper marked 'P. Dunne.'"According to the article, Reece eventually relinquished any claim to the rest of the money, and the judge awarded the money marked with Dunne's name to his heirs, and the rest of the money was awarded to the contractor.
"Kitts notified Reece, sparking a dispute over who should keep the currency, which included some rare bills. A coin dealer appraised the rare cash and deemed it worth $500,000."
"With several parties preparing to stake their claim in court, Reece sold some of the money on eBay and spent some on a trip to Hawaii with her mother, she said in a deposition. She stashed some of the money in shoe boxes under her bed. One box with about $60,000 mysteriously disappeared, according to the deposition."
So, what is the moral of the story? That if you are a contractor who finds a pile of money, that you should keep it to yourself? That if you are in possession of cash that is in dispute, you should spend it as quickly as possible? That if you are going to hide money in the walls of your house, that you should clearly label it with your name?
Picture of old coins from Whatknot's Flickr photostream [flickr.com].
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