Hypo 1

Cynthia was out walking her dog one day and passed by the home of her neighbor, Blair. Pipes had burst in Blair's house causing flooding and forcing her to completely remodel the inside of her home. Blair had moved the entire contents of her house into her front yard. There was stuff everywhere to the point that it was almost impossible to walk through Blair's yard without bumping into a sofa, or a table, or a stack of books. Some of the items were salvageable and just needed to dry out in the sun. For the items that were a total loss, Blair had a dumpster delivered to have those items hauled off. By the time Cynthia arrived, the dumpster was getting pretty full.

As she passed the house, Cynthia noticed that Blair had leaned an old painting up against the dumpster. Cynthia could see her neighbor was busy and it seemed to her the painting was meant to be thrown away, so she took it with her as she walked her dog back to her house.

Q2: Was it lawful for Cynthia to take the painting?

1. A reasonable person would believe the entire contents of Blair's house were a total loss and anything in her yard was fair game.

2. No. Everything belonging to Blair, including the contents of the dumpster, was Blair's property and couldn't be taken without permission.

3. Because the dumpster was full, and the painting was leaning up against the dumpster, if the value of the painting was low, it was probably reasonable for Cynthia to believe the painting was abandoned and that she could lawfully take it.

4. Yes. It was leaned up against the dumpster so it was definitely trash and Cynthia was, therefore, reasonable to believe Blair had abandoned it.