On 9/30/2013 4:38 PM, Alex Gunderson wrote:
On Mon, 30 Sep 2013 15:09:27 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

If I was the abandoned car, first thing I would do is ask the property
owner about it. Same as I would a propane tank.

I trusted the title company to ensure I bought the property free and
clear of liens. They certified it was. Who am I to doubt that?

You brought that up before. I don't see the title company even knowing
about the tank It is not real property so it would not be covered.
Same category as the paint can left in the garage. Unless there was a
previous dispute, no lien would exist.




Fast forward to today, I called the manufacturer of the tank,
Roy E. Hanson Jr. Mfg, who sold the tank to Suburban Propane
well before the penultimate owner bought the property. So the
tank was initially manufactured and sold to Suburban when a
prior owner (prior to the previous one) owned the property.

However, Suburban propane has no records of that tank ever being
on the property. Last week, we fortuitously find out that the Amerigas
tech states that he believes (based on serial number & address)
that the tank was owned by the Heritage Group, who was recently
bought (six months ago) by Amerigas.

There is no record of a lien at the County Records that we know of
(I will run a personal search though). There is no record of a
Uniform Commercial Code registration at the State Department.
The title company found no liens (again, I'm waiting for details).

Forget that silliness. Tanks are not registered like automobiles.


And, most important of all, the gas company (presumably) had a
lease with the penultimate owner which allowed them an easement
to take a tank they believed was theirs (which they never exercised
while the home was under that previous ownership (bearing in mind
the home lay vacant for a period of almost a year during the
economic downturn).

Seems to me that nobody can prove ownership.
What happens then?


If Suburban and its heirs had the proper records, they may own it. If
no one can prove ownership, by default possession probably you do.