It is mandatory to always take found objects to the municipality or police. How much finder’s fee are we actually entitled to and when do we become the owner of something? And what is the obligation if we find a driver’s license or passport, documents that are state or municipal property. And what action can we best take if we have lost something valuable ourselves?
Declaration required
In principle, reporting to the municipality or police is always mandatory if you find an object that has been left unattended. So do indeed report it if you find a wallet or bunch of keys on the street. However, reporting is not mandatory if you make the discovery in a home, building or means of transport (train, bus). You must then report the discovery to the resident or public transport operator. If the owner is known to you, you do not have to report it, but you are of course obliged to return what you have found.
By the way, you are not obliged to find the item, so you can simply leave that wallet on the street. Of course, that won’t work if, for example, you buy or rent a home and find belongings from the previous occupant there. You will then automatically be officially the finder.
For the honest finder?
Finders must keep what they find at home for a year. If the retention period has expired and the owner has not reported, the property of the finder, who may keep the find, will be destroyed or given away. As mentioned, the finder is obliged to report the find to the municipality and also to the manager of the find location, for example the swimming pool or the cinema. A maintenance obligation also applies during the retention period. So store that fragile painting in a dry place. And expensive jewelry or other valuables should be kept under lock and key, for example in a rental safe. The costs must be reimbursed to the finder when the owner comes to collect the items, and there is a right to a reasonable reward, or finder’s fee. An agreement about this must be made in consultation. (See below).
Passport etc. are state property
However, you are not allowed to keep any driver’s licenses, passports or other identity documents you find at home. You are required to deposit this because it concerns state or municipal property. If you fail to comply with this obligation, you are guilty of embezzlement, which is a criminal offense. You can hand in such items to the municipality or police.
(Also hand over weapons to the police).
Finder’s fee
The finder is entitled to a reasonable reward, which is stated in the Civil Code. What is reasonable is not stated, but 10% of the current value is generally considered reasonable. Although, if you think something like a million, 10% is a bit much and if you think something like 100 may be a bit too little. The Civil Code does require that the object must have been found unattended; it must really have been found and, as mentioned, must have been properly taken care of.
Theft or healing
If you do not report it, strangely enough, you are not guilty of theft, but you are guilty of fencing if you resell the item at some point.
Money on the street
You are not allowed to keep any money you find in state, even though the rightful owner is difficult to determine with certainty. You are legally obliged to report it, because the money belongs to someone.
Treasure in the garden
A treasure in the garden, for example a collection of old coins, or something else valuable that has been hidden for so long that the original owner can no longer be traced, becomes your property. The condition is that you make the discovery in your own garden. If you find the treasure outside your own land, you are 50% owner. The other half goes to the owner of the land where you made the find. Declaration to the municipality is mandatory.
Beachcombing
A common hobby, especially in the past. Any such objects found on the beach must be reported to the police. And here too, if the owner does not report within a year, the finder becomes the owner.
Usufruct
Although as a finder you obviously do not simply become the owner of the found object, you are entitled to the usufruct. So if that expensive homing pigeon you found happens to hatch eggs, the expensive, talented chicks are the property of the finder.
Lost something valuable yourself
Unfortunately, the reality is that we lose things more often than we find them. What actions can we best take that give the best chance of results:
More than 80% of the municipalities work together on Lostofgevonden.nl, which allows you to check whether someone has found those expensive sunglasses and where that person lives. Unfortunately, there are some exceptions to this, because not all municipalities forward all types of found objects to that site. But for this you can contact the ,lost and found, department of the relevant municipality. Bank cards are often not kept, but usually destroyed, because the loser knows that a lost bank card must be blocked at the bank.