Posted on 05/20/2011 6:36:45 PM PDT by apoliticalone
Man Finds More Than $40,000 Cash in Utah Home, Returns it to Owners
Bountiful, Utah A man who found more than $40,000 cash in the Utah home he recently bought has returned the money to its rightful owner, The Salt Lake City Tribune reported Thursday.
Josh Ferrin discovered the money stuffed in eight ammo boxes in the attic while he was exploring a workshop room in the Bountiful home on Tuesday.
"I opened it up, freaked out. Closed it, locked it in my truck and called my wife," Ferrin said of the surprise.
At the time he thought of his car troubles, repairs and renovations for the house and his desire to adopt a child -- but he returned it to the owner.
"I couldn't let myself consider the money mine," he said.
"This little guy [the previous homeowner] didn't put it there for me. He put it there for a rainy day," he said.
Ferrin took the eight boxes to his parents' home, where he counted the money with his wife Tara and two children, Oliver and Lincoln.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/20/man-finds-40000-cash-utah-home-returns-owners/#ixzz1Mweo9G42
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
If he'd kept it, I don't see how that would be taxable income. He didn't earn it. He bought the money when he bought the house. Same as if any other aspect of the house turned out to be underpriced or unexpectedly valuable.
The Dallas PD would have seen the old ammo boxes as threat and call out the Bomb Squad who would have blown them up.
oooppss...face palm!
In any real estate deal we have ever done there is always a date where the seller has to have all their property removed or it becomes the buyer’s property, so legally he likely could have kept the money. Having said that, I sure think morally he did the right thing. If I was the seller I would have split it with him because I would feel like I should have made sure everything was out of the house that I wanted and would have felt better about just splitting the money if the buyer was willing to return it.
LOL, funny because it’s true!
Cash, generally, isn't unexpectedly valuable.
Good points. However, in any case, ethics must take precedence over personal advantage. It is the intent that matters. You can’t go wrong with the Golden Rule.
Boats sink or get stolen. Houses burn. If they don’t trust a bank, then bury it in the yard.
But which direction were the hub caps pointing? Dig there.
But which direction were the hub caps pointing? Dig there.
It is if you didn't know it was part of the deal when you negotiated the price.
You can stick with your silly legalism, I'll continue to do what I think is right. I guess we'll both have to be comfortable with our choices.
Oh yah. Me, I use a safe.
LOL
I like good news stories about Americans with values.
We all know people who live on airs and credit, and others live on frugality and cash. To some extent it is an age and generational thing.
The Fed and government have pushed the public to become more of the former. They want Americans giving their stash to stock brokers instead of putting it in savings accounts or to a cash stash.
It won’t be long until our leaders will require us to use traceable plastic for every transaction that subsidizes the bankers, instead of cash from a box.
My late grandpa also distrusted banks, he used to buy gold coins with every bit of spare change he had; my grandma and mom were always privy to where he hid is stash and how many coins he had. So when he passed on to heaven he family didn’t loose it.
What an honorable father !
Both. One lucked into a correct conclusion, the other into an incorrect one. That's how the cookie crumbled! LOL!
You can stick with your silly legalism, I'll continue to do what I think is right. I guess we'll both have to be comfortable with our choices.
Depends on which legal system. That of men or not? You obviously lack imagination. There is the law of the land. And there is His law. We were discussing the law of the land (there being no 1040 up there), in case you didn't follow.
Well, that's exactly the choice I was getting at.
I always thought that our laws were supposed to be the lowest acceptable standard of public behavior, not what we should be aiming for with our best efforts.
If all I can say about my life is that everything I did was legal, I'd think I had failed massively.
And for a little money?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.