Land owner tenant dispute. Owner who bought our landlocked house says I abandoned our Jeep, not drivable.
The bridge has a proven history of more than a few vehicles, mine as well, in pics, falling through over the years.
Towing services wouldn’t even consider going over it.
I considered towing it with tow straps behind my truck but didn’t feel it was safe enough. Creek bank was fenced in on each side of bridge for their horses.
My argument is landowner assured me after I was gone they were going to repair the bridge. Instead they sold everything, my Jeep was gone, my guess is they drug it through the creek with a tractor, damaging it, before they left. Owner won’t tell me where it actually is. Texted me saying my Jeep was in a landfill.
I don’t believe that but I say so tell me what landfill so I can go get it. He refuses.
I filed warrant in detinue case. I didn’t know what to expect, went to court by myself.
Land owner had an attorney. The judge didn’t care about what owner told me about the bridge, said he didn’t have to repair the bridge for me. Ruled after 30 days my Jeep was considered abandoned by law. Said I could appeal.
I can’t afford an attorney,  I’ve read up on land owner tenant laws and it seems he maybe had an obligation to make certain his property was safe, the house I lived in that he owned was safe and livable, easements were to be maintained by him.
I’d have to show the bridge was unsafe to consider that approach.
Just considering options.  
I’m not trying to get reimbursed, or get them in any legal trouble, just trying to get the guy to tell me where my Jeep is. I’m just trying whatever I can.

These are pics of it after they had moved out, aside from pic of my truck fallen through.

This is a bit confusing. Sounds like you sold him some property. You also mention renting a house from him. If you left your jeep on his land (his land after the purchase), you are going to have a tough time. If you can prove he said you could leave it there, you might be able to argue it was a bailment, but if you weren’t paying him for the privilege, you have a tough argument, especially if he doesn’t admit he told you that you could leave it there.

I’m not your lawyer. Just one guy’s opinion, which isn’t likely what you want to hear.

What's the timeline of all these events? If you left your jeep there after you sold the property I think you might be in a tough spot. Hopefully someone here can steer you straight.

A Jeep you say?
A Chevy Colorado is pictured.

By the looks of that bridge, I wouldn’t even drive a lawn tractor across it.

I’m not an engineer. If I were to build a bridge to cross that stream, it would consist of concrete box culverts with a design to pass a vehicle load across it. There is a member here who I believe lives in TX whose occupational specialty is the selling and installing of old rail car frames as bridges.

I didn’t sell it to him, it was our families, I was living there and said absolutely not, brother and sister in Texas agreed to sell it to him, they had control of my mom’s $, and she wasn’t mentally sound to say no, but regardless they bought it legally.
I realize the situation behind it is confusing, it’s a long story, which would be another matter, and I realize I likely won’t get a favorable judgment in court, but just  asking  people who know something about the law, safety codes, or structures think about the bridge atm.

The legal timeline supports their argument that I abandoned it, going on 30 days after I left, despite  us going there to try and get the Jeep, with their agreement while they were there, after that time they say it was legally abandoned. That’s when I decided there wasn’t anyway I could tow it over the bridge myself, and told him he needed to repair the bridge like they said they were going to. I appreciate it.

The pic is my Colorado, I went through the bridge 2 times, long before the house and land was sold or they were around. I’m just showing how vehicles went through it when it wasn’t even as bad as it is in the other pics. To me it seems common sense says it’s a dangerous bridge, but who knows what their attorney would argue.
Do you know who that person is from tx?

So your car is on the other side of the bridge that you need to get your car off his property?

And there's no feasible way to do that?

So he stole your property..... right?

Your argument is that you've been trying to get your car the whole time,  but he won't let you.

That was the situation, it was landlocked and there wasn’t any way to tow it over the bridge.  But it wasn’t that they wouldn’t let me, or that we didn’t go back to try, it’s that they had never repaired the bridge, and I never could actually get it the times I went to.
Then the guy wouldn’t answer calls or respond to me, when I asked if he’d repaired the bridge, then I went back to check on my Jeep finally and it wasn’t there, everything was gone, they were gone.
Hindsight is they never intended to actually live there like they said, they were just buying it to flip it, and never intended to actually repair the bridge. I never doubted them repairing it because I never suspected they weren’t going to live there long term like they said.

Have you looked at every aspect of this? I get that you're looking at the bridge but, that could be where you have the least standing.

What are the timelines involved? Were you properly evicted? Did the new owner provide notice as required under Title 55.1,Chapter 12, 55.1-1254? Your argument regarding the bridge MAY hold water under that same statute in regards to whether you actually had constructive access to the property for the purpose of removing the vehicle. It really isn't the strongest piece of the puzzle. If the new owner failed to provide legal notice, failed to follow the appropriate timelines, or failed to properly document the disposition of your vehicle you may still have some recourse but what you really need is a lawyer to dig into this.

I would balance to value of the jeep against the effort of recovery. If it actually went to a land fill, it's certainly gone for good at this point. It's not like there's a special place they keep them waiting for people to come claim them. They either scrap them or roll them into the earth.

If he did sell it, he broke the law and his lawyer probably told him as much or he already knows. He's not going to fess up without a fight and pay you. It'll cost you to make that happen.

There’s probably no “code” for private bridges. I do know that I run into sketchy bridges all the time in my job on private land.

And I’m not trying to kick you when you’re down, but you’re not going to get any satisfaction out of the courts as they will rightfully conclude it’s abandoned property.

There was a way to handle this, and it would have been a clause in the purchase contract specifying a set time period for removal. Absent anything to the contrary, that 30 day period is probably going to be the default.

And, respectfully, I don’t see where a new owner has any obligation to repair a bridge on his newly acquired property (again, absent any purchase terms to the contrary) to facilitate removal of your property.

This is all very confusing.  To summarize, I think.

1.  Your family sold him property with your vehicle on it.
2.  You knew the bridge was structurally unsafe when the property was sold to him.
3.  You left a broken down vehicle on the "wrong side" of the bridge after the sale.
4.  The vehicle disappeared after a time that was long enough it might be considered abandoned?

I am not sure he had any obligation to fix a bridge he didn't want, nor to keep safe a vehicle left on the property and considered abandoned.  

We purchased some property with a non-functional vehicle on it several years ago and one condition of the sale was that before we signed the check it would be gone as we didn't want to be stuck with trying to dispose of it.

my 2 cents worth, How did they get the vehicle off the property? If you ask nicely will they tell you how to retrieve it or was it scrapped? Personally, I would say it's partly your own fault and that you're shit out of luck. Let it go and move on.

This above.  The buyers belief is everything there, conveyed with the sale.
It should be very plain in this world as it is, ANY agreement between two parties needs to be in writing, even between friends and family.

I’ve considered everything myself but I don’t know the law, couldn’t, can’t afford talking to an attorney. I’ve approached it more from the right and wrong aspect, and what was said and what I believed, and I know, that doesn’t matter legally.
It was a foolish real estate contract done without concern for me personally by my family in Texas, the other neighbor selling his house and land, and the buyers. No one cared because the only one who could get shafted in the deal was me, everyone else benefited.
The warrant in detinue I filed in county court is the only legal action I’ve taken.
I’ve just been trying to get these people to tell me where it is, what they did with it. But they’re being intentionally malicious and not telling me.
I realize if it went to a landfill it would be gone, but I don’t believe it did. Although it wasn’t drivable at the time, that was mechanical. It was certainly a vehicle any Jeep enthusiast would have liked to have to fix up.

I realize I likely won’t get any justice from the court or the law, it’s just the only legal effort I have as an option to try and find out where our Jeep went so against the odds I’m trying it anyhow.
I voiced concern about the things that could and would go wrong and what I wanted to protect myself and my interests to my family, who sold it, and the real estate agents, but none of them cared, there was $s to be made and something to gain for everyone else. So I didn’t have any say in the contract.

Personally I don’t see how what you’re saying in the last paragraph is reasonable, not suggesting you’re wrong legally, it simply doesn’t make sense.
I appreciate the response.

I absolutely knew the bridge was unsafe, I was living on the other side of the bridge and used it for years, fallen through it 2 times, thought I was literally going into the creek over the side another time.
I knew unless the bridge was repaired, a tow truck wouldn’t be able to get it, they wouldn’t try in the first place, and that I couldn’t tow it over it myself.
That was something I voiced opposition, complained about, when they were considering the buyers offer. For what it wasn’t worth, I said absolutely not to everything, so this foolish contract wasn’t my doing.

They probably drug it through the creek with a tractor, not caring about the damages, after removing their horse fences to the right and left of the bridge before they left.
They wouldn’t tell me and never have. If they were decent people they would have sent a simple text message saying we got your Jeep on the other side of the creek, if you want it come get it, we’re moving and it’s out of our hands. I’ve asked them 50 times just to tell me where it is or what they did with it. The guy is a narcissist and enjoys me not knowing.
What’s my fault is trusting these people and being civil and kind, and believing they were going to repair the bridge.

Unfortunately I wasn’t listened to and didn’t have any say in the contract.

So how long was the jeep on their property?

Not a lawyer, and I'm aware you asked this in the lawyer section.

If you want to argue the bridge then get an engineer to come out, inspect it. Get the county to come out and look at it. Talk to an attorney about what your legal rights are as a tenant and having access to your property. Are you required to hand cart everything across the bridge since it wouldn't hold up to a loaded moving truck? I have no idea.

Spend a bunch of money and get a legal opinion. A picture to the judge isn't going to do it. The judge maybe threw you a bone by reminding you that you can appeal, in other words, come back prepared.

Seems like you've already spent too much effort on a $1500 vehicle.

Why didn't you drag the Jeep across the bridge with a rope and then tow it from the other side?

30 days after I left they said it was legally abandoned. By law they can claim that, according to the judge, but not arguing that. I was there trying to get it after 30 days, they were there then and knew the limitations. It’s my fault for trusting them. At the time this went on, they weren’t saying anything about it being considered abandoned, they were unlocking their gate so we could go try to get it, we as in my fiancé and me, and when we couldn’t they still implied they’d be repairing the bridge, according to them they were going to renovate our old house on that side to live in, and move their horses over to the fields on that side.
Even though we didn’t get along, I didn’t have any reason to think they wouldn’t be repairing the bridge, not for us, but for themselves.

That’s the thoughts I’m having about the bridge, not that they had to repair the bridge so I could get our jeep, but considering I lived there by contract for 5 months after they bought it, did they have any obligation as landlords, landowners, to provide their tenant, if that’s what I was, safe passage? If the bridge is in fact unsafe, which it is, maybe I could argue failure of their responsibilities as landlords. That’s the only reason I was asking opinions on the safety of the bridge.
I’ve read some of Va law and it seems their is law about landlord tenant responsibilities and rights that indicate they had an obligation to provide safety and safe premises and are responsible for maintaining their property that I use as a legal tenant. As you wrote though I have to talk to an attorney to see how that applies to the situation.

I’ve considered getting an engineer’s opinion.

I realize people could care less about the value of something to someone else, what it is to them, some things are worth fighting for though, whether they are to others or not, as most people could agree. I lived in our Jeep for the better part of 5 years with my dog and cat when I was dealing with the bad in my mind after I got back from Iraq, it was our home and was filled with irreplaceable things. I didn’t abandoned it to anyone.

I was going to tow it with a tow strap, but didn’t feel we could do it without it going over the edge. In hindsight I would have tried regardless, but as I was writing in the response before this, at the time I didn’t have any reason to think they weren’t going to repair the bridge for themselves. For months they had told me about waiting till I was gone so they could repair it and move their horses over to the fields on that side, and then renovate our old house and live in it. I never doubted they were going to do that. They certainly had the $s to, they’d put up a 20,000$ barn in a day with about 30 hired help on their side.
Aside from them saying they were living there long term and had big plans for each side of the property, everything they did indicated they were living there long term. I never expected different, so I was certain at the time they’d be repairing the bridge. I was waiting for that, that’s the reason i didn’t risk towing it over myself.

Was it registered and insured?

Should have filed it as stolen.  If it turns up you would have gotten it back. If not… it probably was junked.

So the bridge was basically unmaintained and in bad shape when y'all owned the property and the property was sold that way?

If your siblings sold the property out from underneath you without proper time to get your stuff moved I know where I'd start my conversations.

I would have to agree with this.  It sounds like if you should be threatening to sue anyone it should be your relatives who made the sale without taking your concerns into consideration.