Who actually owns this 1,000 gallon propane tank? (2023 Update)

[Stormin Mormon]

How about I come out and steal it, and that ends the thread?

. Christ> >

[Kurt Ullman]

And the insurance pays for a new one with clear title. win-win.

[krw]

Ohio looks to be half that.

It's a little old, but prices haven't gone up much.

I think he's being taken.

[Stormin Mormon]

About three o'clock on wednesday work for you?

. Christ> >

[dadiOH]

Polk County Florida.

Depends on where you look. Here's a site showing what people actually pay.

Absolutely! Florida is consistently higher than most any other place and Polk County is the highest (or close to) in Florida.

I'd change suppliers but they are few here; initially, they all start off much lower but soon the price is again ridiculous.

[krw]

No, the insurance company will refuse to pay because an unlicensed (non-union) plumber disconnected it.

[krw]

You have a 33% chance of being right. The answer has to be either duct tape, WD-40, or 42.

[krw]

I meant before he opened his mouth. Let them tell him.

He insists on making it far more difficult than it needs to be. If the gas company puts up a stink, just get another. ...and they know it, too.

[Danny D.]

Actually, I could use a new propane tank, so, Stormin steals it, and the OP gets the money from the insurance company, and I buy it from Stormin (at a reduced cost, of course).

Win:Win:Win

[Alex Gunderson]

If/when it comes down to it, I will certainly say it's my understanding that I own the tank by virtue of owning the house.

I'll call the company that made the tank tomorrow to see if they can track who originally bought the tank.

It's likely that this will come with the original propane company - which would make sense.

I'll let you know what that query results in.

[Alex Gunderson]

Exactly!

[Alex Gunderson]

Here's my plan:

1. Continue (on the legal groups) to find out the law on abandoned property in California (most likely a time period is involved, which could be as long as forever).
2. Query the tank manufacturer to see who they sold the tank to (most likely it's to the gas company that got bought).
3. Search to see which gas supplier is currently the cheapest (but my vendor seems to be the cheapest most of the time)
4. Shut my mouth when talking to the propane company!

[Alex Gunderson]

In general, I'm told on the legal groups that there is apparently a 3-year statute of limitations on whether a commercial entity can sue me to take back their property and that 3-year period apparently starts at the point at which the original lease defaulted.

Since the house was bought months after the original owners left it, I presume that 3-year period long ago expired.

I don't know if a UCC-1 (uniform commercial code?) was filed, nor whether that extends that 3-year time period.

So, tomorrow (Monday), I'll call the California Secretary of State to figure out how this works.

I'll report back, since this question appears to have been asked many times, but never really answered definitively. It's all hearsay (from me anyway) until I have actual facts.

[CRNG]

On Mon, 30 Sep 2013 05:48:27 +0000 (UTC), Alex Gunderson wrote in Re Re: Who actually owns this 1,000 gallon propane tank?:

Don't forget

5) Keep A.H.R. updated.

[Alex Gunderson]

To that end, apparently there is an almost exact case, albeit in Maryland, for what I'm going through.

In that situation, the owner of the house asserts that a title search should uncover any ucc-1 forms filed as liens against the property.

If no UCC-1 forms show up at the time of closing, then the propane tank is yours, by virtue of the fact that you 'thought' you bought the house free and clear.

In a way, this makes sense because otherwise owners will never be able to sleep at night wondering if the neighbor will saunter over and claim that the beer fridge is his.

Apparently this is a UCC-1 search engine, but it's down right now:

So, it appears there are two things protecting me, the first of which is this three-year statute of limitations on claims against property and this UCC-1 filing status.

I'll call the California Department of State to ask how I find out the status of the UCC forms, if any.

I'm also going to contact the manufacturer of the tank.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Do you have a date the contract defaulted? If the previous homeowner used that tank in the previous three years, the clock had not started ticking yet.

[Ed Pawlowski]

If it was on going business between homeowner and propane company, there would be no claim filed. If my car was parked in the driveway at the time of closing, would you now own it? Seems like a shaky premise here.

[Alex Gunderson]

The previous owner had to stop paying before I bought the property, so it's at least 4.5 years ago.

I found out from this URL that a propane tank is NOT real property: Propane tanks are personal property

I found an almost exact case described here but for MD:

It seems, based on that nice description, the title search should have turned up any liens such as those that would be found by the propane company filing a California UCC-1 form.

And, I found this interesting article on abandoned property:

May I keep a propane tank that came with property bought when lease on tank had ended? 04/28/2011 - Abandoned Property - State: CA #24744

They quote California statutes: California Civil Code, Section 2080.1, but, that says I have to give it to the sheriff, which is impractical.

So, the whole thing is confusing, at best.

[Stormin Mormon]

With the price of gas, I have to get a dime a mile for delivery.

. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[dennisgauge]

You are what's wrong with the country today.

All you are doing is trying to weasel your way into a "free" tank because you don't want to pay for tank rental.

Deep down you know who it belongs to, and that you should be paying the rental fee. It's only fair.

Either the previous homeowner or you were supposed to call and transfer that tank account to your name. Obviously the previous homeowner didn't care. Rather than do the upright and honest thing you kept your mouth shut.

You've had that tank rent free for however many years. Time to do the honest thing, own up, and pay the long-overdue bill.