Tell me what you think about this...

[BetterLateThanNever]

Hi All!

this was on the morning news here in Cleveland. so far I've discussed the story with 2 people and have gotten some surprising reactions. Won't tell you my view point. I want to see what you all say.

Okay This woman buys an old house in Cleveland and hires a contractor.
Contractor is tearing out the old wall in bathroom and finds a bundle of money wrapped up in Old newspaper. The money and newspaper are from the 1930's.

Contractor calls woman and says "Hey guess what I found?"
Woman comes and gets money and offers him 10% for being a stand up guy and being honest and calling her.

Well as you probably have guessed the story turns sour. The original amount of money found in the wall is aroun $152,000.00 but because the money is old and in pristine condition it's now valued somewhere around 2.7 million. Contractor now says woman should forget the piddly 10% and now he thinks he should get 40% and is taking the woman to court.

So what do you think?

[Momto2Boyz]

I'm interested to see how this one plays out in court! You'll have to keep us updated.

I personally think, he should've taken the 10%...that is quite a bit of money for doing nothing. I can't imagine the woman is legally obligated to give him anything. But since she had a verbal promise to give him 10% she should hold true to that.

I honestly hope the court gives him NOTHING! That would serve him for being greedy!

[annymoll]

When we restored an area of our home, we found money. It was not nearly as much(boo hoo )but it was substantial.DH was working alongside our help, and the money was ours no questions asked.We gave none to the hired help. If we had promised money, we would have honored the amount promised.My opinion is screw the contractor. We had another fellow that we used occasionally to help with work on the house.He had commented that it would have been difficult for him to fess up if he found the money alone. In other words he would have taken the money. We never used him again.I would also add that if I find money in other people's homes while visiting( or if working) I do not deem it mine. It belongs to the homeowner.An interesting note- the money was in the bathroom in our home.LOL

[MarshHen]

O.K., I figure when she bought the house she bought the contents which would include the appliances, carpet, furnace, money hid in the walls, etc., LOL

She didn't have to give the contractor a dime to begin with, but she did, so he should be thankful for what she gave him and get a life. He is getting paid for his contractor services, so he should only expect payment for that and count the 10% finder's fee as a blessing.

[mmy2grls]

I think she should give him 10% of it's worth. The contractor was lucky he was offered anything.

[Darlene]

The house & contents belong to the owner, not the contractor. He deserves only what the homeowner decided to bestow upon him if anything.

[FrugalMomof3]

I agree, the house and ALL it's contents belong to the home owner, the contractor is lucky to have even been offered 10%, greedy man is all I can say

[Darlene]

I have one more thing to say to the contractor~
Said in my best Soup Nazi' voice:
No Money or Contract For You!

[MarshHen]

I love watching the show on HGTV called "If Walls Could Talk." They find some really neat stuff in these old homes, but this house wasn't talking, it was screaming, LOL!

Anyone with an old house need some bathroom repair done. I'm really handy with a sledge hammer and a crowbar! I'd even use the ole' noggin for that much moola, LOL.

Makes you wonder if there isn't maybe more money hidden in the house? I'd just have to find out. How bout Ya'll?

[Katybird]

I don't think that the contracter deserves any money at all. If he was walking through the living room and found a $20 bill that fell out of the homeowner's purse would he think that it belonged to him because he "found" it? I think that entire lawsuit should be deemed frivilous and tossed out. He has no claims to the money. JMO .

[toile]

I don't think the contractor is "owed" a thing.

I hope the courts throw this case out?

Can someone explain $$ to me.
So very old money in pristine condition is worth more than face value?
I am not familiar with anything $ in that way

[FreesiaE]

The contractor will lose. This money was on the property of this other person, and therefore it is theirs. I'm sure the arguement is that the person didn't put it in the house, but did they put the bricks in? Does that mean anyone can come take them? Nope.

[acidcookie]

Sounds like a jerk. 10%? He's still getting $270,000 then, if of the $2.7M. If not, still $15K! Talk about being ungrateful and greedy.

[powerfm1]

The money is worth more than the face value because it is in pristine condition therefore many pieces are probably valuable to collectors. So the money is worth what the collectors will pay.

[TheRootedNomad]

I guess my opinion differs a little from most of the posts

~I think the 10% should be honored as she gave her word.

~I think the 10% should be of the value and or 10% of the actual money so that the contractor can sell it now or continue to hold it for it's value to grow

~I think the lawsuit should be thrown out....the money is the homeowners


Now here's where I differ from most of the above responses....

~ I think honesty of that sort should be compensated better than that when it comes to that HUGE amount of money. 152G might not have even paid off the house and 15G of that is pretty generous in perspective. 2.7M is going to set the woman for life. She should have reconsidered at that point. I think she could afford to set the man up better. Most people would not have found a $20.00 bill worth ruining thier work reputation over but for $152,000 I bet a lot more would have stuffed it in thier jacket.