What is Personal Property?

@Starjo - How would you take an in-ground pool with you? Isn't it built into the ground? Or did you just take the filter, diving board and things?

Maybe I'm missing something here but I can't figure out how that would work.

@ lighth0se33- I'm not a lawyer, but I think that something that you install or permanently add to a rental place becomes the property of your landlord in many cases.

Now, since you planted flowers it isn't really the same as adding, say, a built-in dishwasher or a brick paver patio, and I doubt your landlady would make an issue out of something so small anyway, but I'd be interested to see what the legal status of the flowers would be.

@shell4life - There's a famous quote by Picasso (later attributed by some to John Lennon) that says, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Some people seem to take that a bit to literally, especially in the digital age when things can be copied and moved around so easily.

Were you able to get the copyrights for everything? Is this something that an average working person can afford, even if they do it the more efficient way?

It makes me sad that animals are considered personal property. When I think of property, I think of inanimate objects.

In spite of this categorization, pets do have rights. Some states have passed laws prohibiting chaining or tethering a dog for more than 24 hours, and even during that time, they must be provided shelter, water, and food.

I think as time goes on, more states will get more laws protecting animals from being treated like objects with no feelings. It would be nice if they could one day be considered something other than just personal property.

I had written a good collection of songs, and I wanted this intangible personal property legally documented. I applied to get my album copyrighted, because I worked around musicians I didn't know and desperate songwriters suffering from writer's block.

You'd be surprised how often people try to steal each other's songs. They try to alter pieces here and there, but they take your hook and make it so you can never use your own song again because it will resemble their version too closely.

It can get expensive to get copyright certificates for all your songs, so it's best to send them in as a body of work and pay one price. Type the lyrics to send in along with the recording.

@lighth0se33 - Your landlady most likely knows the definition of personal property. She was probably hoping that you did not know you had all rights to your plants.

That is audacious that she asked you to leave something there that you paid for initially and spent money on later for things like fertilizer and mulch. I am glad that you took them with you.

My landlord wanted me to leave behind my in-ground swimming pool, and he even complained because he had potential tenants already interested in the place because of the pool. I asked him if he was familiar with personal property law, and he backed off.

I rented a home and lived there for three years before moving. During that time, I had planted hydrangea and chrysanthemum bushes, as well as tulip and gladiola bulbs.

I told my landlady that I would be moving out soon. She came by the next day and found me digging up my bulbs and bushes. She actually asked me to leave them there, because they added to the aesthetic value of the place!

I told her I was sorry, but these plants were personal property which I bought, planted, and maintained laboriously, so I wasn't going to leave them behind. She got kind of huffy and told me to be sure and fill in the holes with dirt and cover them with leaves.

If you are ever looking to get a large loan or mortgage the bank will undoubtedly ask you about the value of your personal property. While they don't care about things like your clothes or trinkets, anything such as cars and property is a big thing to them. This kind of personal property can be used as security for loans, so if you default the bank can sell off your good in order to recoup costs.

I think that using your personal property, or tangible assets, to secure a loan is a great option for those who don't have a lot of cash on hand. It is important though to make sure you pay everything back on schedule as you don't want everything being taken by the repo man.

Keeping a solid record of all of your personal property is very important if you are looking for insurance to cover your household.

Knowing what you have in your home and insuring it properly can allow you to rest easier knowing that in the case of a fire or other disaster that your belongings will be at the very least, replaced monetarily.

For myself, I always keep receipts from big ticket items and make sure that I have photos of just about everything that I buy. It is easy to store a flash drive in a fireproof safe. This can be a perfect record of your things.

@indemnifyme - Interesting point and thanks for the hint. I've been considering getting a renters policy and I think I'm convinced. I will be sure to ask for actual cash value reimbursement!

This article caught my eye because I work in insurance. I write policies to protect personal property all the time. Homeowners, renters, and condo policies are a few of the most popular types I usually see.

A lot of us don't consider our personal property as an asset, but it certainly can cost a lot to replace! It's always a good idea to have insurance on your personal property but not all policies are created equal.

One hint I would offer is to pay attention to how you're going to be reimbursed in the event you file a claim. The two most popular ways are replacement cost of actual cash value. I think replacement cost is the best because it basically replaces your item with another of the same value without accounting for depreciation. Actual cash value takes depreciation into account and often means you'll get much less money to replace your property.