I agree,the homeowner owns the house and everything in it.

I agree, it belongs to the homeowner!!!

I watched a story on this last night. I think it belongs to the homeowner, but it seems to me the attorneys will get the money.
:-(

Sad to say, that the lawyers will probably get most of the money!

I think it belongs to the homeowner too.

Me too!

I heard that since the money is old, it is actually worth around $500,000.

Sheryl - NJ

I agree that the owner of the property is the rightful owner of the money, but if the contactor wanted to 'steal' the money, why didn't he keep his mouth shut and make off with the dough? No one would have known.

It is possible that its like the case of a home next door to me. An aged pair of parents lived there. He held his funds in secret and would not tell any of his children, not even the one who had power of attouney, where these were located. After he died and than a few years later, the mother was placed in a nursing home, the children had to go on a treasure hunt. He had money in several banks and funds hidden in the house and furniture. To this day, they don't know if they found it all. Some of the last parts were found as they prepared the house for sale.

In jemdandy's noted case, at least they knew there was "treasure" to be found and they expended a lot of effort to find the money. In the contractor's case, any contractor she hired to do the work would have found the money, so what makes him so special? Since he didn't even know about or expend any undue effort in finding the "treasure", I think 10% is a sufficient reward for his being honest and forthright in informing her about the find -- why reward him with more? To me, he's greedy. What if a gardener had struck oil (a la Beverly Hillbillies) in her backyard, would he be entitled to anything?

Seems to me that if he accepted the 10%, the public relations value in the story itself would have generated enough goodwill to increase his business prospects in a very positive way (and getting his name out there)! As it is, enought people now know about the controversy that it is now probably hurting his business.

And yes, the lawyers will get most if not all of it.

I keep waiting for the previous homeowner's family to get in on this, too. I agree with mtnwomanbc- the contractor has made a big mistake in showing off his greed.

If the contractor loses in court, it's possible the judge will order him to pay court costs. I hope that happens. He should have taken the generous offer of 10% and said thank you very much!

I think the contractor will lose in court, but how sad that these people's friendship will likely end over this and they have been friends for quite a long time.
I could use a find like that...I manage apartments and all I ever find is food that's so old it's gone black and rotten socks...LOL!
Suzan J

At first I thought it should all be the home owners, but after thinking about it, I kind of think she could give the contractor more than 10%. After all, it was found money she didn't have before. I, too am thinking the former home owners or their family are going to make a claim. Probably will all go to lawyers.

I agree with Flamingo. He should take what was offered to him and be grateful. None of it is his anyway.

Somewhere I read that the previous owner was never married and had no children, so that would mean having to do some research to find other family. "Other family" then would be coming out of the woodwork, kinda like the money did!

Sue

It clearly belongs to the homeowner...with maybe a finders fee. But he wouldn't have found it, if she hadn't hired him.

This is her house. Everything within those walls belong to her now. Previous owners have no claim.
She hired/contrated him to do a job. She doesn't owe him a damn thing. If he took what was within her walls,(and did'nt tell her) then he is a thief.
I think she was generous to offer him 10%, she doesn't HAVE to give him anything. She doesn't owe a contracter, or...a known for a long time, so called friend....squat!
I think that he is soooo out of line, to feel intitled to any money he found, within HER walls.
What if he found money in her dresser, if she hired him to fix the drawers? Should he be intitled to any of it? Hell No!
What if she hired a mechanic to repair her car...is any money he finds in her car...partially his? Hell No!

He's incredibly lucky that she was willing to give him 10% of what belongs to her, But he's going to take her to court, for at least 40%!?

PahLeeze....

See, this is what's so nuts. Yes, it seems obvious that the money belongs to the homeowner, but if you read the article, you'll see there's some obscure fact of law known as "Treasure Trove" that dates back to pre-revolutionary war ENGLAND and states (in short) Finder's Keepers.

So yes, it seems that our fine legal system may have a precedent for giving the CONTRACTOR the whole $182,000.

IMHO, before this gets settled, the attorneys on both sides will be the ones who get the bulk of the money. $400 an hour adds up fast.

Rose

The old laws apply to buried treasure and such I believe, not something discovered in someone's property, at least it shouldn't. If you call in a contractor to repair the attic and he discovers a valuable painting sitting up there, should he just be able to walk off with it? I guess all these people that are stealing valuable copper fixtures off of homes and churches can claim Finder's Keepers?

Even though the homeowner might ethically believe that the money belongs to the family of the previous owner who hid the money, I think when you transfer ownership of a house, you transfer the contents and legally it's your's whether you knew it was there or not. Just try and get a previous owner to come and pick up trash that they left behind.

Personally, if it was my house, I'd split 50-50 with the contractor. Don't tell anybody, don't involve any lawyers, no publicity, no taxes,etc. It would be "found" money.