Stolen property is in the house of someone and we are in the process of getting a court order to retrieve it. Should we contact the landlord / property owner?

I don’t think that’s necessary. Just wait until the order comes through then request a Police/Sheriff standby. Have an officer meet you or escort you to the house and wait in case there is an issue when you are retrieving the property. Pretty sure you can ask for this.

The landlord really has nothing to do with this persons conduct, it is a personal dispute not a tenant/landlord issue and it is, at this point, your word against hers. The landlord can’t open up the house to you based on your word alone, you are not on the lease/rental agreement and have no tenant rights.
Depending on the value and property in question this person might stash it somewhere else to avoid returning it, you may still be SOL even if you get an entry order to the property. Might just end up being one of those “live and learn” situations.

I do not know where you are writing from, but in Texas, if a property owner is made aware of illegal activity on his property, he becomes liable, meaning he could be charged with receiving stolen property as well as his tenant.

I may be wrong, but I thought that was part of the process. A court order involves the police and the police notify the property owner before enforcing the order unless it is an emergency. If they don’t, I certainly would. It may make enforcement unnecessary.

I should have mentioned that yes, it might depend on the state you live in whether or not the landlord is involved. Something you should ask your local law enforcement or court.

She admits to having the things in over a dozen texts. She defiantly says its her house—although she cites the tenet right laws, the police told us that the civil court is the way to go.

I’m on a better computer now— This woman has said in about fifteen texts that she has the property but that the police cannot come in her house. Thus far, this seems to be true. She has also admitted to selling or destroying the stuff in texts.

Keep those texts and their chronological and id data. Paste them to a word doc. This will be valuable in court and possibly influence the judge to asign court costs to her. In the case that she actually does destroy your girlfriend’s property, it will go a long way toward criminal proceedings. It would make it a cakewalk for a prosecutor.

In most places you have to give a roommate 30 days notice. You can’t just evict them. If your GF lived there long enough to be a legal resident of that dwelling,she was illegally thrown out too…

Try and find evidence that she lived there, like a bill, or something with that address.

As mentioned above, keep the texts.

Each state has different tenant laws/rights. Should be easy to Google them. No your rights,well your GFs rights.

Make sure your GF is on good behavior in court. Be legal, and polite. Most importantly, tell the truth,and I think it’ll be a pain, but it’ll be over with eventually.

Did the owner know your girlfriend was living there?

^^ This is a theft and possibly sales of stolen property case. Whether or not the landlord was aware of the girlfriend is immaterial.

^^I agree. I just wondered if she is hesitant to tell the landlord for a particular reason.