Question about property ownership.

[Guest]

Hello,
I intend to leave my parents' house for a friend's on very short notice. I am wondering if they can legally come after me physically if I ask that they not, as well as if they can take action for theft if I take things with me that I own but that they paid for - PC, clothes, backpack, etc. I doubt they would do either thing, however I'd like to know just for security's sake. In case it's relevant, I'm on the east coast and intend to move out of state - which state's laws would apply?

[ccsmod8]

Hello there –

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to get into contact with us here at the National Runaway Safeline on our public forum, we are always here to listen and here to help in any way that we can. Hopefully by supporting you there are other that are reading through this thread that can relate can feel helped as well.

Those questions are a little tricky for us to answer unfortunately. As you might have read on other post or threads, we aren’t legal experts here so we can’t tell you for sure what would happen and what can’t happen when running away. From our knowledge parents can report stolen property if they are the owners, but not sure if that includes small items like clothes or backpacks. We mainly hear parents reporting cars stolen. As far as your other concern, since they are your parents the rights of physically forcing you home is a little unclear. You might need to contact your local non-emergency police if your parents can “drag you out” of where you might be staying at the moment.

Hope that this response helps you focus on a path that will help you out during your situation.