My jerk neighbor just stole another neighbors charitable donation

[tridim]

You know, the typical, post garage sale thrift store pickup piled up in front of the Condo. I checked the pile this morning too because I thought the sign might have said "free", it didn't, it said, "DAV, please leave the tax receipt inside the storm door".

Well, about 30 minutes ago as I was opening my window I saw my neighbor carting off about half of the stuff and looking very sneaky about it. He knew what he was doing was wrong. I don't know either of the people involved, but I do know the thief is a white trash asshole. I hear him screaming at his kids and his wife almost every day. I do my best to avoid them. Unless I hear him smacking the kids I have no real reason to call the authorities.

Should I just let this go? I know I'd be pissed if I lost my tax deduction to that jerk.

[rockymountaindem]

1. Tell your neighbor and let him handle it

Of course if you do that, he's going to need you for corroboration and you'll get dragged into it anyway. I guess you need to take that into consideration.

[ThomCat]

2. I would notify your neighbor.

If it was me, and I was donating that stuff I'd want to know who stole it. At the very least, when DAV says the donation isn't worth as much as I thought I'd want to know why.

[tanyev]

3. Box up some messy trash and put the boxes in shopping bags

from some very nice stores. Leave the bags unattended on your front porch.

[ObaMania]

9. Messy trash? I'd fill 'em with dogshit!

And bait him with a six pack of cheap beer and a * bumper sticker (assuming he has a car) sticking out of the bag.

[tanyev]

12. But it can't be too smelly, or he'd get suspicious before he opened it.

[ObaMania]

15. LOL. You kiddin'? He'd ignore it thinking it was him! n/t

[Suich]

4. You get to fill in the amount you think the items are worth.

I'd let it go, if it was me, since you don't know either party.

:hi:

[tridim]

7. You're probably right

I guess I'm more worried about having a neighbor who thinks it's fine to steal stuff from his neighbors in broad daylight. He lives about 20 feet from my back door, and I like to leave my doors and windows open during the summer.

[Suich]

17. I know what you mean. I've seen people take stuff out of the Goodwill bin

There are some people who take the stuff then have a garage sale.

Looks like you hit some nerves with your post!!!

[AndyA]

5. I would absolutely let the neighbor who left the stuff out know what you

saw. A thief is a thief. The stuff didn't say "FREE!" it said DAV. So, you have a neighbor who is a thief. If he'll steal stuff meant for a charity, he would have no hesitation to steal something else.

What a scumbag! Probably a Christian Republican, too. The guy sounds like a real pig, loves his wife and children so much. Friggin' Nazi. Neighbors like that you don't need - devalues the neighborhood.

[LeftHander]

6. So...in "giving" your neighbor is rewarded with a tax deduction...

How crass....call the cops be the hero...save your nieghbor's "charitable donation" honor and send a guy to jail for stealing his discarded items.

I think the idea in giving old things away to an organization is to see that someone ends up with still useful unwanted items.

If you or your neighbor is upset and not being rewarded with a tax deduction for this then I have no sympathy for your "loss".

"My charitable donation was stolen."

That fucking makes me laugh...

[shadowknows69]

8. hear hear

n/t

[I Have A Dream]

10. How do you know that the person's intent was just to get...

rid of the items or to get a tax-deductible donation receipt? When I give to the DAVs, I want to make a difference in their lives; it's not just to get rid of the stuff, otherwise I'd have a yard sale or something.

Regardless of what you think, the person did steal -- however, I think that he stole from the DAVs.

[tridim]

13. Uh.. Yea.. Wow.. Sorry my post upset you

But the fact is I just witnessed a minor crime and came here to ask advice. That's all. My post isn't about the tax system.

[huskerlaw]

14. WTF?

He shouldn't donate things because he gets rewarded for it? It's not really charity because there's a tax deduction involved? :wtf:

Meanwhile, the guy didn't steal is "charitable donation". He stole stuff that still belonged to the other neighbor. Regardless of who was going to pick it up later that day, until the DAV came to get it all of that stuff still belonged to the original owner. It was theft, plain and simple.

[renate]

18. I care about where my donations go

For example, I take our clothes and the kids' toys to an organization that distributes them for free to families in need. I do that instead of taking them to Goodwill because there are families that can't afford to shop there. I would be pretty upset if the Goodwill truck came along and picked them up instead.

If the neighbor donating the items felt strongly about giving them to the DAV, the neighbor stealing them didn't have the right to override that decision. Besides, they were a gift from the first neighbor to the DAV. If you mail a present to somebody, does your letter carrier have the right to take it before it gets to the recipient?

I also don't see anything wrong in taking a tax deduction for donated goods--I'd pick up a penny on the sidewalk, why wouldn't I take a tax deduction? It isn't the reason I give stuff away, but it'd be stupid of me not to use it.

[RebelOne]

23. I donate to the American Kidney Fund a few times a year.

And I give away some expensive clothing and shoes. I always take a tax deduction. Why not? It's legal and I need all the help I can get in reducing my tax bill.

[Lance_Boyle]

11. Is the white trash neighbor's name 'Dave' by any chance?

Maybe he was legitimately confused. It *is* a silent "E" after all... ;-)

[JNelson6563]

20. haha Good one!

Clever. :toast:

[Warpy]

16. You could always call the police

and you could always tell your neighbor AND the DAV.

He's stealing from charity AND from your neighbor, and trespassing to do it.

At least you could embarrass the fuck out of him.

Just consider what he took, make a list so the cops know what to look for.

[benburch]

21. I agree, call the police.

Let them at least pay the thief a visit.

[Lisa]

19. you could mention to the donor that you saw "someone" carting stuff off

It may be that the person who left the items doesn't really care about the tax receipt (though if s/he is on a limited income, that could be of some help). But it does serve as a reminder that things can "go missing" if left unattended. You don't have to give the name of the neighbor you saw doing it, if you're concerned about neighborhood conflicts.

I had an interesting situation the other day. Over the past couple of years, I've been donating DVDs to my public library. As usual, the place is severely underfunded and since it's in a low-income neighborhood, a lot of people depend on it for seeing movies they otherwise might not get a chance to view. The chief librarian and I are friends, so I've been collaborating with her on title choices. I finally got around to making up a list of ones I've donated (they've offered to issue a tax receipt but I've declined, since even though I could sometimes use a tax break, I've decided I want to pay my full share instead ... which should address the concerns another poster brought up). Anyway, I discovered during my inventory that several hard-to-get DVDs never made it through cataloguing. I notified my librarian friend, since it appears that they were mainly left-leaning films (John Sayles's "Matewan", some anti-war documentaries, etc.) -- I can always order replacements, though it means some hassle and more expense for me. But I figured she should know about things disappearing, since they were ones she'd asked for specifically. I gave her a duplicate copy of one of them at a later date, and it's got a long waiting-list, so it's not a case of the cataloging staff turfing it because it wasn't a popular item.

Anyway, I'm glad I decided to tell her. It's not something anyone's going to be fired over, even if people are skimming from the donation pile (or making censorship decisions about the collection, which is what she was most concerned about). But we've now worked out a special system for getting the DVDs to her directly, and she will expedite them through cataloguing. (This may solve the problem.)

[I Have A Dream]

25. I like your idea, Lisa. n/t

[earth mom]

22. What your neighbor did was wrong-he should have asked first.

That being said, I must vent! :evilgrin:

I'm a thrift store shopper, but lately, I am getting completely turned off by the fact that many of the thrift stores these days are privately owned and make a "donation" to a charity instead of having "ALL proceeds" benefiting the charity. Where I live, the Goodwill and Value Village both do this and I heard through the grapevine that the guy who "owns" all the Goodwills around here is filthy rich as a result. :grr:

My biggest beef is that these stores have jacked up prices to the point that if I-just got out of the working poor rat race and am still living paycheck to paycheck in the middle class-often can't afford the stuff, how is someone who makes less than what our family makes afford the stuff?! Some of the clothes you can buy cheaper at Ross or TJ Maxx brand new for crying out loud!

So, I've decided that all the stuff I've got sitting in bags in the garage to donate-A LOT-is going to either a battered womans shelter or to the cat rescue thrift store. Also, I've recently looked into Freecycle-I think it's a great idea and I plan on placing a few ads there for the bigger stuff.

Seriously though, when did "charity" become a for profit oriented business?! Gawd, I am SOOOO sick of the greed!!! :mad:

[titoresque]

24. I buy most things at thrift stores

home furnishings, nik-naks, clothes, books etc.
I really do not like to recycle the things that I buy back to the thrift store because frankly they charge too much. I do not HAVE to shop at thrift stores but a lot of people do, and a lot of what comes in as a donation is over priced.
I'd rather someone take my stuff for free than know that my things are going to be resold for more than they are worth.
Also, in AZ. the DAV is the most expensive thrift store around, I will not shop there.

[Djinn]

26. you guys can get tax receipts for used stuff?

How does that work? who decides what the value of an old table is?

Either way I would just ignore it, here at least, anything someone leaves on the street is fair game. Presumably if the donater is on a low income the tax receipt wont help much, low income usually means low taxes and therefore little point in keeping receipts for deductions.

Unless my neighbour was doing something REALLY bad (it'd have to be murder or rape) then I wouldn't even think of lagging them in. Even if you don't come from a big no dobbing culture, you still have to live with them.

[Raine]

27. Leave an anonymous note

for the neighbor whose stuff was stolen saying that you just want to inform him that his stuff was not picked up by the charity but it was stolen. By doing it this way you stay out of it and next time he wants to donate to something he will either drive it over himself or find a way to keep it from being stolen.

EDIT: spelling

[Scout1071]

28. I'd let it go. If he is taking that stuff, he may very well need it.

Keep an eye out for any criminal activity, but I say just let it be.