Estray Statutes Issues - Essay Example

The primary purpose of this statute is to establish procedures for dealing with lost or abandoned property that promote the return of lost property to the owner and which protect the expectations of the finder. The statute defines lost property and abandoned property and provides procedures and remedies which prescribe the powers and duties of finders and owners of the property, and relevant government employees. It provides for the disposition of lost property that remains unclaimed by the owner and by the finder. The statute exempts from its application limited types of property. Defined by these laws and regulations, a person taking up an estray has qualified ownership in it, which becomes absolute if the owner fails to claim the animal within the statutory period. If the owner reclaims the estray, he is liable for reasonable costs of its upkeep. The use of an estray during the period of qualified ownership, other than for its preservation or the benefit of the owner, is not authorized. Some statutes limit the right to take up estrays to certain classes of persons, to certain seasons or places, or animals requiring care. Like registering title, estray statutes discourage the theft of property. Like adverse possession rules, estray statutes tend to clear the clouds from the title and transfer property to productive use. Like adverse possession rules, estray statutes also provide an incentive for owners to monitor their property. Estray statutes induce the dissemination of information and thus reduce the search costs of owners who lose their property (Wen, 2004).

The statutory time limit is usually within one year (Baumer, 2003) as practiced in South Dakota. In Colorado, however, this limit is good for five days only by animal control officers, unless claimed by the owner, the state board of stock inspection commissioners will keep the animal (Ord. 196, 1973). In Idaho, upon notice to the County Clerk within ten days, publish notification in a newspaper within twenty days and still unclaimed, the statutory limit will end within three months and the finder will become the owner. These notifications are necessary for the finder who fails to make a reasonable effort to return the property to its owner will be considered theft (Idaho Code, 55-405). In Nebraska (Nebraska Brand Committee, 2006), Oklahoma (University of Vermont, 2001), and Minnesota (Office of Revisor of Statutes, 2006) the notification is only within seven days. In Minnesota, notification is also within ten days. If the finder failed to post the notice and hence ignored the property rights of the owner, he shall be charged double the amount of damages sustained by the owner thereby. In New Jersey, if the owner failed to reclaim it within 120 days “a. the owner of the premises where the property was found may claim title to buried or hidden lost property or to lost property which a trespasser found; b.  the finder of the property may claim title to lost property in other cases” (New Jersey Law Revision Commission, n.d.) If the owner of the premises or the finder does not claim the lost property, the marketable property shall be sold in which the net proceeds shall be deposited with the administrator of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (46:30B-1 to -109) in the Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund (46:30B-74).

Upon finding it, ownership regulations vary among states. Commonly, the finder keeps and cares for the animal as the statute in South Dakota, Idaho, Ohio, and Texas. In Colorado and Nevada, estray livestock are deemed property of the government institutions. Colorado’s board of stock commissioners has a say on the estray. In Nevada, the Department of Agriculture is deemed to be the owner unless the legal owner was identified and had requested a claim for it. In Ohio keeping the estray within the statutory time limit can put the livestock in the public auction with the finder acquiring the compensation from the sale (Burke, 2003, 4). In the same way, Oklahoma estray statutes stipulate that if the owner failed to pay the charges incurred in the keeping of the livestock, the estray shall be sold and upon deduction of the expenses, the net proceeds will be given to the owner. Unclaimed estrays will also be sold after notification through weekly newspapers for two consecutive weeks.

States have their provisions on estrays. All statutes have provisions for protecting property acts. They only varied on some aspects such as statutory time limits but all of them support and protect the rights of the owner, the finder, and the community in general.