Lost your mobile or wallet? 'Fair finder' must from now on make a declaration

Anyone who loses something, such as a wallet or telephone, remains the owner for five years after the loss. The ‘honest finder’ of a lost object on private land is also obliged to report this to the municipality. That writes Het Nieuwsblad.

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This is the new law on found objects. Until recently, municipalities still had to work with rules from 1975. But since 1 September, a new regulation has been in effect in which the owner of a lost object has more rights: from now on he can still claim the property up to five years after the loss. Under the previous law, that was only six months. Before the object is returned, you must be able to prove that you are the rightful owner.

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Anyone who finds an object on private land must also report this to the municipality within seven days. In the past, this only applied if something was found in the public domain. “So if you find, say, a smartphone in your front yard, you are now also obliged to report this,” Nathalie Debast of the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) tells Het Nieuwsblad.

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Register

According to Debast, municipalities are obliged to keep a register of lost objects. However, returning the items to the rightful owner is quite a challenge. Several police zones mainly use social media for this.

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Storage is also more difficult under the new law, so that people can claim ownership for much longer. Until recently, after six months, municipalities could use, donate, sell or destroy the unclaimed items themselves. Now you will need a lot more storage space. Or one has to take the risk of selling the stuff before the five years are up. But then the rightful owner can still claim the proceeds of the sale.

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