A contractor who helped discover bundles of Depression-era U.S. currency totaling $182,000 hidden behind bathroom walls said the homeowner should turn the money over to him or at least share it…Kitts said his lawyer has drafted a lawsuit that he hopes will force Amanda Reece to turn over the money she has kept.
Most of the currency, issued in 1927 and 1929, is in good condition, and some of the bills are so rare that one currency appraiser valued the treasure at up to $500,000.
Kitts was hired to renovate Reece’s bathroom and found the money hidden in the wall – probably by the original home owner, Peter Dunne.
John Chambers, an attorney for Reece, said Kitts rejected his client’s offer of a 10 percent finder’s fee and demanded 40 percent of the small fortune. Reece has no intention of backing down in the face of what she considers a shakedown, Chambers said.
Dunne died years ago – unmarried and childless.
Fuck this guy, I hope the court gives him nothing. 10% was generous and he should have taken it.
10% was beyond generous.
Expect case if filed to be tossed immediately.
Now, suppose the contractor found a box of toxic metal that wound up costing the homeowner $100K to clean up and remove. Would the contractor be liable?
The guy should have taken the 10% Finders fee, since the owner owes him nothing. The money is part of the owner’s property, so it belongs to the owner no matter what. Should movers be able to keep the coins they find in couches? I hate greed people that want something they don’t deserve.
Can you say property rights?
If that contractor finds a lost dollar bill behind the fridge, does that make it his? Why would this extend to $182k in the wall?
Alternatively, if I dropped an envelope containing a dollar (with my name printed on it as owner) on someone’s yard. Does the owner of the property now own my dollar? I think not.
If there’s any sort of ownership dispute, it would not involve the contractor at all–this isn’t like finding lost plunder in the high seas. The dispute would involve the current owner and whoever else could make a valid claim for the ownership of the money.
Even if the previous owner of the house could make a claim, that claim would possibly be invalidated by the contract for the sale of the house.
10% of something is much better than 100% of nothing. It’d be worth the 10% finder’s fee because the contractor could have just as easily ripped the owner off completely and nobody would have been the wiser. Honesty should be rewarded.
If I can find some cash in my neighbor’s house, can I keep it?
I hope the contractor gets nothing more than the bill from his lawyer (who I hope didn’t take the case on contingency).
10% is more than enough. The contractor should be greatful.
As it is I’d fire the contractor and pay him the breach of contract penalty, and no 10%.
I like #6 comment! : )
I am surprised he did not just stuff teh money in a toolbox and not say a word.
The worker deserves to get paid… For the WORK done.
If the owner wants to give him a reward for the find, the fine, if not, tough tata.
Why does this contractor feel he’s owed any money. It’s not his house and unless he was hired specifically to find missing money. He has no right to any of it. If this occurred on public property it could be a different story. But private property on which he was hired to work for by the owner of the property. Come on! this guy should have taken the 10%.
@Sinn Fein: “Honesty should be rewarded.”
You don’t think $18k is enough of a reward?
I would have been happy if the home owner gave me a single bill as a memento. And even if I didn’t get that, I wouldn’t complain.
You’re missing the best chance, guys. Let’s wait and see if the Great State of Ohio steps in and tries to claim the whole thing.
I’ll bet there are 13 hacks on the state payroll researching it, right now.
#14, you’re probably right!
“Kitts asserts he found lost money, and court rulings in Ohio establish that a “finders keepers” law applies if there’s no reason to believe any owner will reappear to claim it.”
That’s a funny idea considering he “found” it in his friend’s bathroom. Maybe he could go through her drawers and closets and “find” something there too. 10% was more than generous. Sinn Fein you think he should be rewarded for NOT stealing something out of someone else’s house. We’ve set the bar way too low.
My daddy always told me he was the bastard child of a bootlegger from Cleveland. According to my lawyer, that money belongs to ME!!!
Ethical and legal issues aside, I think the most interesting thing to come out of this will be the real source of such a huge amount of depression-era cash, if it can ever be fully determined. I find it a little hard to believe that these are the profits of an honest business. This must be the equivalent of several million dollars in today’s highly inflated currency.
I’d never have shown her the money in the first place
Soon as I get home I am taking my money out from behind the drywall.
He should be charged with extortion. He’s not entitled to a damn thing.
Watch the DEA swoop in and Confiscate all the money saying it was depression ear drug money
And good for them.
What ever happen to honor?
Their lawyers will be the people getting most of the $182,000.
Wonder if the contractor was pushed into such a low estimate by the owner that he felt the small sum of cash he found would make up for the aggessive negotiation tactics on the other side.
The joke will be that the tax man now knows of the money and will deduct plenty in taxes at the first opportunity.
Wonder if the contractor used bona fide employees with proper social security numbers or the employees were “undocumented residents”
He should of quietly taken the 10 % and drove home quietly.
$182k – American ? Ain’t that about $2.50 Euro ?
typical greedy scum contractor! Probably over charged her and never finished the job, either.
And, $182k American is about…mmm, 200 pounds Sterling, and about 99k Canadian, ’bout now. Aren’t we about equal to the PESO?
I can’t believe this man actually thinks he has the right to claim finders keepers and if the state of Ohio would award him anything I would bet he paid them off. The man was contracted to work on private property and you can’t FIND something in someone elses house! The money became the property of the homeowner the second they signed the purchase agreement. I agree with the person who asked if any guest in your home has the right to claim anything they “find” while IN your home. This borders on ludicris and I think any offer from the home owner was generous and should have been appreciated. Just goes to show why other countries refer to the U.S. as greedy Americans. Now excuse me while I go visit my neighbors, I think I saw a nice diamond ring on the counter last time I was there.
I’m surprised at the hate you seem to have for the contractor. What sort of treatment is “fuck the contractor”?
Before the contractor started working nobody knew the money was there, so it’s hard to understand the owner’s loss if he doesn’t get all the money.
On the other hand if the contractor had not noticed that was money and had just thrown it away with the rest of the work debris, no one would have got any of this money.
This seems to be a finding done by the contractor (by coincidence while he was working) and it seems not have no owner at all (even being in someone’s property). Had the property owner bought the house with “possible treasure hidden” the price would have been different and would have dedicated some efforts to find it. This is not the case.
I agree to an extent with #29. If the contractor were not there doing work, the owner of the house would have never known about the $182k in the walls.
Really, is it the OWNER’S money? Just like it’s not the contractor’s, it’s technically not the owner’s either. She did not place that money behind the walls, the original owner of the house did. However, because it is her home, I guess it is her property…
The contractor should have been happy with 10%. Now, the State of Ohio will probably take all the money.
#29 & 30,
I guess you two don’t own a house. Unless the contractor has “salvage rights”, he isn’t entitled to keep anything from the renovation. That would include copper pipes and antique fixtures. It doesn’t matter if the home owner knows there are copper pipes behind the walls, she still owns those pipes.
If there were toxic chemicals stored or asbestos then she would be liable for the cost of their removal.
Now, if the contract was written that the contractor was to remove everything at his expense, then he might have a case.
i do own a home mr. catshit. i did say that i guess because it’s her home it’s her money even though she technically did not put it there. i was just looking at it in another way.
i think it was very nice of the homeowner to offer a finders fee and i think he’s being a very greedy individual.