Lmao. The vultures dont take long when they sense opportunity.. here's my take on this...
To be fair here - you can get any answer you want from a lawyer when you only provide selective Information.
If you call a lawyer and say - "a guy left a tool box behind" and that's the extent of the details provided, he's giving you the best guess of the situation with the limited info provided.
If a guy stole $5k from a bank, left it in your basement with a serial number on the money - and moved out - I hardly think a lawyer would tell you, "that stolen money is now yours free and clear" cause the fact it was left in your basement negates the fact it was stolen in the first place.
If somebody left behind a car that was being financed in your garage - you wouldnt just now "own the car" cause it wasn't paid off in the first place. It wasn't the Tennant's to leave behind legally speaking. He should have turned the car in. Good luck registering that new car..
Listen - I'm not judging, you do what you want. It's a ****** tool box.. BUT - that said - if it's not paid off, then he didn't own it in the first place.. at best, in a legal sense - you may have just recovered stolen property. I think the legal line would be crossed if you "become aware it's not paid for", so I'd think twice before you just run a serial number with snap on depending what YOU plan on doing here. I'm not so sure I'd "go out of my way either" - but I'd realize 2 things.. if the Tennant didn't die - then HE knows where it is.. if you sell it - you may seriously **** the guy buying it.
So you have choices -
Keep it, and know the serial number can't turn up to snap on - and you'll have to lie about having it if anyone ever comes asking for it. You'd have say - I sold it, wtf do I know or care about who owned the box - it was left in my house and I sold it to a nameless person off Craigslist for $200. It sold in an hour.
Sell it --. You not knowing its not paid for and selling it isn't a crime - but realize the guy buying can get fucked in the future, and wind up with no money and no box. If he's s pro mechanic and tries to warranty something 2 years down the road, it may not work out for him. If he's smart - he would run the serial number before buying it. If he tells you "it's not paid for, I'm not buying it cause they can repo it" - you are now "AWARE" someone else actually owns claim to that box.
Contact snap on - and find out what the deal is. maybe it was paid for, (I doubt it) and maybe you own it now., But if the guy owed money, snap on is probably gonna want it back. So think about if you would let them have it, IF there's money owed before you call.
Or destory every serial number on the thing - and keep it or sell it at a huge discount disclosing to the "friendly" buyer "I FOUND it like this" so you'll never be able to use a serial number, therefore it's now 75% off, and you're on your own as soon as it leaves here. Don't call me.
The likelyhoood of you being persued for the money is probably remote. The buyer is responsible for the money to snap on, if the box is not paid off and the box just dissppears. If the box is found, and isnt paid for - snap on has a claim to it. If you sell it - and somebody gives the SO the serial number - THEY may get screwed. What's legal, what's right, and what will happen in reality are all different things.. but just insisting "I now own this" when the buyer many not have paid for it in the first place, may not change snap on from saying "NO - ya don't own it - cause WE do"..
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. That's all I'm saying. But I wouldnt knowingly **** somebody OTHER than somebody who fucked me first.
I don't care about snap on, I don't care about some guy that left a huge mess for me to deal with - but I do care about someone who never did anything to me.
