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I need advice on retrieving personal property after being made homeless.
Former Member
Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
Without going into detail: I was homeless at the age of 16 after my abusive mother threw me out. She has never made direct contact with me since.
Just before she threw me out she physically pinned me against the wall and removed my phone and purse off me, and ripped off the jacket I was wearing, leaving me in nothing but the jeans and t-shirt I was wearing. Her attitude was that everything I owned was her property. Once I had managed to secure a room in a homeless shelter I tried to get some of my things back - much needed clothes and toiletries - by asking another family member to retrieve them. My mum refused to give me anything unless I came to get them myself. I did not go to collect anything because my social worker advised me that it could be a risk of my own safety and because I was still emotionally distressed after everything that had just happened.
I was not in the homeless shelter long before I got my own flat in a supported housing scheme. It was then that I realised I was missing certain sentimental items, and supplies that I had bought in preparation for college and now needed. I made several attempts, through other family members, to ask for the items back. She just refused to give them to me.
Later, my aunty found out that my mum had started selling my belongings on eBay, including items left to me by my nan who had passed away.I had set up my mum's ebay account many years before she threw me out so I tried the login to see if it was still the same. After logging in I could see that she had sold a large number of my personal items but not everything. I was going to report her to ebay but I didn't know if there was any point because people had already bought the items she was selling.
It has been more than a year now since I gave up trying to get my things, but it has been on my mind a lot recently.
Is their anyway that I can get the remainder of my belongings back? Any legal action I can take? Is it too late?
Just to clarify: many of the items were things that I had bought with my own money or gifts and things that had been left to me by other people.
Just before she threw me out she physically pinned me against the wall and removed my phone and purse off me, and ripped off the jacket I was wearing, leaving me in nothing but the jeans and t-shirt I was wearing. Her attitude was that everything I owned was her property. Once I had managed to secure a room in a homeless shelter I tried to get some of my things back - much needed clothes and toiletries - by asking another family member to retrieve them. My mum refused to give me anything unless I came to get them myself. I did not go to collect anything because my social worker advised me that it could be a risk of my own safety and because I was still emotionally distressed after everything that had just happened.
I was not in the homeless shelter long before I got my own flat in a supported housing scheme. It was then that I realised I was missing certain sentimental items, and supplies that I had bought in preparation for college and now needed. I made several attempts, through other family members, to ask for the items back. She just refused to give them to me.
Later, my aunty found out that my mum had started selling my belongings on eBay, including items left to me by my nan who had passed away.I had set up my mum's ebay account many years before she threw me out so I tried the login to see if it was still the same. After logging in I could see that she had sold a large number of my personal items but not everything. I was going to report her to ebay but I didn't know if there was any point because people had already bought the items she was selling.
It has been more than a year now since I gave up trying to get my things, but it has been on my mind a lot recently.
Is their anyway that I can get the remainder of my belongings back? Any legal action I can take? Is it too late?
Just to clarify: many of the items were things that I had bought with my own money or gifts and things that had been left to me by other people.
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Comments
I found myself feeling angry on your behalf reading your post, I'm so sorry to hear that your mum has been so harsh towards you and has been refusing to give you back your things. It's understandable that you're keen to retrieve some of your possessions.
In the short term it might be worth closing down the ebay account if it is under your name? Although as you say, it's about weighing up the pros and cons and also keeping in mind that you may need it as evidence of what she's been doing. However, doing that would stop her from selling anything else.
In terms of getting things back, they key thing here will be around having evidence. For example, if you have any receipts of things that you owned or proof that they belong to you? If you do then the police can help you to get these things back. It may be more difficult with things that have been passed down to you unless you have some evidence that they were left to you.
I'd suggest speaking to your local CAB and getting some legal advice on this. You can find your nearest branch by searching on their website: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-we-provide-advice/advice/
Let us know how you're getting on :yes: