6 ms·

It becomes complicated if the new owner has legitimately bought the bike in a second hand store.

ThrustVectoring 4y ago
It's not that complicated, legally speaking. The rightful owner gets to get their stuff back, and the new "owner" has a claim against the purveyor of stolen goods for the purchase price.
- rompic 4y ago
  At least in Austria that's not how it works. The new "owner" will keep the bike as he has bought it in good faith. The shop will claim that it cannot check every used bike. The rightful owner could try to get money from the person who stole it (if found), but they most likely don't have any money. It's the perfect crime and the reason why we cannot have nice bikes. People are literally sleeping with their expensive bikes in a room.
  - zarzavat 4y ago
    I can't believe the law works like that. Are you telling me that if I buy a yacht in Austria "in good faith" from someone who doesn't own it, I can just sail away on the yacht, original owner be damned?
    - nkingsy 4y ago
      Not a lot of yachts in Austria
    - _nalply 4y ago
      There's same law in Switzerland. However as soon as you as the buyer feel something is off, you aren't protected anymore because only good faith buyers are protected. For example if you go to the black market or something seems to be extremely cheap you definitively aren't protected anymore. It's a conflict of interests. This law is trying to do a tradeoff. Imagine you went to Walmart and bought a bike and everything seemed fine but it turned out that an employee stole the bike and sold it to you in the name of Walmart. In this case you can keep the bike.
deleted 4y ago
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tinus_hn 4y ago
In the Netherlands second hand bicycle stores have to keep records where their bikes come from. A stolen bike shouldn’t end up in a legitimate shop.
- namaria 4y ago
  Surely we can trust hundreds and hundreds of small business owners to be very strict about law enforcement when it pushes against their financial interests, in a country with more bikes then people. No stolen bikes end up in shops, no siree. Yeah right.
  - tinus_hn 4y ago
    We’re living in an era where people regularly use tracking devices to retrieve their stolen bicycles. If they turn up in a store the owner should run into trouble even without regular checks. Of course this depends on the police not being lazy which clearly is a big ask but if that is too much any law is pointless.
adastra22 4y ago
It seems it depends on the jurisdiction. In the US you can’t launder title for stolen goods like this. If you bought a stolen bike, well it sucks to be you. The bike goes back to the rightful owner.

It's not that complicated, legally speaking. The rightful owner gets to get their stuff back, and the new "owner" has a claim against the purveyor of stolen goods for the purchase price.

rompic 4y ago
At least in Austria that's not how it works. The new "owner" will keep the bike as he has bought it in good faith. The shop will claim that it cannot check every used bike. The rightful owner could try to get money from the person who stole it (if found), but they most likely don't have any money. It's the perfect crime and the reason why we cannot have nice bikes. People are literally sleeping with their expensive bikes in a room.
- zarzavat 4y ago
  I can't believe the law works like that. Are you telling me that if I buy a yacht in Austria "in good faith" from someone who doesn't own it, I can just sail away on the yacht, original owner be damned?
  - nkingsy 4y ago
    Not a lot of yachts in Austria
  - _nalply 4y ago
    There's same law in Switzerland. However as soon as you as the buyer feel something is off, you aren't protected anymore because only good faith buyers are protected. For example if you go to the black market or something seems to be extremely cheap you definitively aren't protected anymore. It's a conflict of interests. This law is trying to do a tradeoff. Imagine you went to Walmart and bought a bike and everything seemed fine but it turned out that an employee stole the bike and sold it to you in the name of Walmart. In this case you can keep the bike.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

tinus_hn 4y ago

In the Netherlands second hand bicycle stores have to keep records where their bikes come from. A stolen bike shouldn’t end up in a legitimate shop.

namaria 4y ago
Surely we can trust hundreds and hundreds of small business owners to be very strict about law enforcement when it pushes against their financial interests, in a country with more bikes then people. No stolen bikes end up in shops, no siree. Yeah right.
- tinus_hn 4y ago
  We’re living in an era where people regularly use tracking devices to retrieve their stolen bicycles. If they turn up in a store the owner should run into trouble even without regular checks. Of course this depends on the police not being lazy which clearly is a big ask but if that is too much any law is pointless.

adastra22 4y ago

It seems it depends on the jurisdiction. In the US you can’t launder title for stolen goods like this. If you bought a stolen bike, well it sucks to be you. The bike goes back to the rightful owner.