On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:56:06 +0000 (UTC), Alex Gunderson
wrote:

I realize this is a legal question but has anyone here had this happen.
Any advice?

1. Bought a house, as is, in 2010, which came with a 1,000 gallon propane tank attached.
2. Entered into agreement with fuel company "1" for fuel in 2010.
3. No tank rental is paid to fuel company 1 because it's not their tank
4. Recently a workman (inspecting the tank because of a new BBQ) mentioned that company 2 owns the tank
5. Company 2 was recently bought by company 1.

Nothing more has happened, but, who owns that tank?

I feel "I" own it by virtue of multiple circumstances (but I'm not a lawyer!):
a. I bought the house and everything attached to it
b. I never signed an agreement with company 2
c. Company 2 abandoned that tank long ago (IMHO)

I suspect, if company 1 wants to assert ownership of that tank, they could say:
A. Company 2 originally owned the tank
B. Company 2 still owns that tank
C. Therefore, company 1 (who owns company 2) owns that tank.

Have you ever been in this situation?
What advice do you have for me?

TIA

You can be pretty sure that you don't own it. From the scenario you
describe, probably No 1 owns it since they bought #2.

Your opinion does not matter. You cannot prove it was abandoned and
unless you have a bill of sale that the previous owner of the house
owned the tank, you did not buy it. On top of all that, propane
companies are notoriously sleazy when it comes to filling tanks if it
is not their tank. Some state laws may possibly come into play too,
at least they do here in CT. If a propane company does not own the
tank they are not allowed to fill it.