r/LegalHelpCommunity • u/Impossible_War_2741 • 1d ago
Lawyer letter help
Location: Colorado
I am hoping someone has a recommendation for or is a lawyer who would be willing to write a letter to someone on my behalf. I don't have a ton of extra money, but am willing to pay some toward this, I just can't afford anything too expensive.
I don't want to go into too much detail here as the situation is still ongoing and lawyers have been involved for a few different aspects of this already. This is the super short version tho. If a Colorado lawyer is willing to help me with a letter, I am happy to provide further detail if needed, but please contact me as I do not want to answer in the comments to preserve any legal avenues other people involved want to pursue down the line and to keep my public comments neutral in this situation.
My partner has been going thru a messy separation from a long term living situation and some of my stuff is still at the house. I was letting my partner continue to use a few pieces of furniture, I had not gone thru some things like the bar cart to see what was mine from when I lived there, I was lending them a fridge, and I was letting them continue to use several sets of shelves until they were able to buy their own to then give me mine back (for all loaned items).
The problem is that these things are now being withheld from me despite repeated requests for the part of the house to be unlocked to allow me to get my stuff out. The person that is causing this issue is now demanding a highly detailed list while refusing anyone access to see what is in the space. I have ADHD & am on the spectrum and have childhood trauma that resulted in CPTSD so my memory is not the best. Without looking in the space to see what all small furniture/storage items are still in the space, looking over the alcohol and glassware on the bar cart, and in general being allowed access to identify and extricate my own property independently of their communal living breakup I am feeling stuck and like I am being drawn into something that I am not fully involved in, despite dating someone involved. I have been staying respectful in all communication sent to this person and I have not spoken publicly about anything going on in any sort of detail. Even here I am doing my best to keep everyone as anonymous as I can. I have been supportive of my partner by listening & commiserating in private, but been very aware of anything I say publicly. I do not want to cause issues that my partner would have to deal with by telling people outside this situation everything that's happened in the last few months.
This person has been staying with their own partner and has been ignoring every single attempt anyone has made to contact them, both in their role as landlord and as supposed co-owner/roommate and my requests to get my belongings out of the middle of this are treated as if they don'texist. The understanding for years had been joint ownership of the property with my partner & this person, but the person at the heart of this has recently been saying it was always a landlord/tenant situation, yet ignoring requests for things like the smell of gas in the bathroom to be looked into as is her responsibility as landlord and not claiming any money sent to them as rental income on their taxes (my partner helped them file a couple years while living together). The mess is dividing up a 12+ year joint living situation of four people into two households, but I am now caught in the middle despite no longer living there because I was trying to be nice in letting them borrow things and have some items left in the sheds and in-law suite on the property. I also helped to purchase a couple big-ish things like a window AC unit which my partner and I purchased together for use in the inlaw suite. As it was my partner's place of residence I had been working on bringing the last of my things over in smaller loads so I didn't have to rent a truck, but this situation has basically put a full stop on moving some of my items. My things in the sheds are not locked away, but my things in the in-law suite off the garage are. This is the space that I lived in with my pertner for a couple years until I moved out, so there are a couple things that I don't know if they were removed or not when my partner changed rooms in the house, and there are some things I know are still in there.
I am hoping for a letter saying that I need an answer as to when I will be allowed to remove my own belongings & not have them removed for me based off a list that would be guaranteed to be incomplete, and I do not want them to keep any of my things because I missed it on my mental checklist from about 6 months ago when I was last in the space. I am also concerned about malicious damage or "accidentally" dropping and breaking some of the more expensive/complicated items if they are moved out for me.
They demanded we use a specific method of contact, which I did, and they have not responded to a single thing anyone has sent to them via that method until a lawyer letter of her own was sent stating she will not allow the removal of any property and would seek legal action if any property is attempted to be removed, basically holding my things as hostage in this dispute with my partner. I believe this is not acceptable and want to get myself extricated as cleanly as possible. I would be willing to hire a locksmith so as to not cause any damage as I tried to get access to the space to remove my things, but with the letter saying all property in the space must stay in the space I don't know if that's the way to go. I have not yet contacted the local police over this, and would like to resolve it like respectful adults, but can contact authorities if needed.