Hi there. The law says that, when a person leaves their property in the possession of another person with their knowledge and consent, the second person must take reasonable care of the property. If the person looking after the property is not being paid to do so, the law will be less strict in requiring them to act carefully in looking after the goods. In other words, if you are being paid to look after someone’s property, the law expects you to act with more care and diligence.

However, regardless of whether money has changed hands, a person looking after the property must avoid acting in a way that is inconsistent with the true owner’s ownership rights. For example, destroying or selling the property would be inconsistent with the true owner’s legal rights. If this happens, the true owner can sue the wrongdoer for ‘conversion’. If successful, the true owner may be awarded compensation for the value of their loss if the original property cannot be recovered.

Although you may technically have a claim for conversion, there are several practical obstacles you may face in enforcing your rights. Your friend notified you via text message that they no longer wanted to look after your property and, by trying to phone you, they may have been giving you an opportunity to collect your belongings before they were sold. The law may see your failure to communicate with your friend and collect the property as contributing to your own loss. This does not prevent you from suing your friend, but it may reduce the compensation you are entitled to.

More generally, you need to think about the expense and complexity of commencing formal legal proceedings against your friend. Depending on the value of the property, you may want to consider informal options for resolving this dispute, such as mediation or negotiation.

Suggested way forward

If your friend is willing to negotiate or mediate a resolution to your dispute, you can both access the free services of your local Dispute Resolution Centre (www.qld.gov.au/law). If this is not viable, you should speak to a lawyer about the legal options available to you and the best course of action. By pressing the “Consult a Lawyer” button, LawAdvisor can help you search for experienced lawyers and obtain fee proposals for their services. Costs for legal advice and representation will vary between providers based on experience and the scope of services.