Is This Considered Breaking and Entering?
My friends cousin went on vacation for a week and gave their house key to my friend. She decided to have people over and told me that her cousin said it was alright.
Well, my friend got sick and threw up next to her cousins bed and didn't clean it up very well and now there's a stain. And when my friends cousin got home a couple days later, the door was unlocked and thats when they called the police.
All I heard was that the police were looking for fingerprints. Then my friend came clean and gave out my name and some other peoples names.
Her cousin hasn't decided if shes going to press charges or not & if she does then we will all be charged with breaking and entering.
But this entire time, I thought we were aloud to be there. But we weren't.
Could I be charged with breaking and entering? and what will happen?
Answer:
To have "Breaking and Entering" you would need those two elements in your actions. There appears to be no breaking because you entered with a relative of the home owner, with keys and permission to enter (you cannot have your house sitter charged with a crime becasue they are in your house with your permission, just becasue you are mad at them later). You did enter the home, but only after a person with permission from the home owner unlocked, entered in front of you (assumed), and had given you permission to enter.
Now for leaving a mess inside. . . not cool, but also not a crime. Becasue your friend had permission to enter the house she gave you permission to enter also (like if you rent an appartment youhave permission to be there and can allow your guest to come inside when you like. . .regardless of the desires of the property ownwer). I would sugest to either pay to launder the bed covering and explain to the story to the owner or offer to purchase the home owner new bed covering to replace the ones you "soiled."
You may not have a criminal charge here, but a moral one to make the place like it was before you hurled.
Since you did not know your frined did not have permission to have friends over does not make it a crime by you. There seems to be nothing to make it unreasonable to theink that your friend did not have permission to be in her cousins home. A "conspiracy" to be formed would need the agreement between two or more persons to take an illegal action. Since there was no agreement and no illegal act. . . you are safe here too.
If in the outside chance that the owner does try to press charges, you will argue fraud of your friend is the reason you wre inside the home. That your friend had keys and is relatiive of the home owner. It was a reasonable to believe she had permission, and then transfered that permission to you. I cannot see this being brought up on charges,
In th future becareful where yoiu party, and hurl. It's never a good idea to party at someone's house that is not there at the time. . .
No, but you could be charged with vandalism.
i guess you could be charged. Tell them about that friend who lied about your cousins demands and also remind them that it was your friend who left the door unlocked, this unlocked door could of been dangerous, people walking in and out of the house whenever they please.
No but not because the friend lied to you. The cousin gave her a key and trusted her with the key and the house. The friend betrayed that trust, but there was no breaking and entering. The cousin has no legal leg to stand on.
Sounds like someone is trying to scare you.
Not likely. Possibly Criminal Tresspass or even Criminal Mischief. Unless you live in a small town I wouldn't sweat it.
I would call the cousin and apologize and explain.
No. They gave her the key which means that while they were gone she was responsible for the house. So anything you did with her permission was lawful if not exactly smart.
I would tend to think that since she willingly provided the key and gave you permission to be there it is not considered breaking and entering. However in her case, she should have you pay for the cleanup or bringing the bed back to order.
well i don't think yall will be able to prove that the cousin gave permission to enter unless yall recorded her saying it which i doubt.. but, i guess if yall have to go to court, then yall could testify against her and say she gave permission, and if you give good evidence and a good story to the judge and jury you might get lucky and win the case.
Why don't you all just chip in and replace the mattress and be done with it?
All those who know you were given a key and let into the house, need to point that out should charges be pressed. If you have enough witnesses you can contest the charge, saying that you were let into the home by someone who had been given the authority to control the residence for a certain timeframe. Therefore, it is NOT breaking and entering. If you didnt force your way in, break down doors, or windows, then the charge is false. Gather your witnesses. They can charge you with whatever, but you CAN fight this.
In the end, the person who damaged the home winds up paying the price for repairs.
You were allowed to be there. The cousin was not allowed to have guests over. The cousin is responsible for the damages as well. Ask any property owner...
You say your friend "came clean". If she truly came clrean all the way, the cousin cannot legally do a thing. Your friend had the key, had permission, and you were her invited guest. If she is a real friend, she will tell the police the truth if anyone gets arrested over it.
And if anyone should be responsible for cleaning the carpet, your friend should, since it was her that threw up and she admitted it!
Cant say for sure, dont know where you are (what state). But it will likely depend on why the keys were given to your friend and what the instructions were. I think for breaking and entering, you have to force something open and not have any authority to enter the property. If your friend had authority to be on the property and she invited others then she probably exceeded her authority but did not acually break and enter. If your friend had no authority to be on the property, then maybe she did break and enter, even though she had been given a key. Another quesiton is: is giving a key, under the laws of your state, evidence of authority to enter the peoperty under all circumstances? I doubt it is a complete defense, but may be relevant.
No, you cannot be charged.
The key was given freely to your friend.
Your friend used poor judgment in inviting others over and will doubtfully get those keys again, but there are no legitimate charges. Even vandalism would be a very weak case against you. Everybody that was at the party was invited by the person that was given keys. Somebody got sick.
The best they could do would be to take you to civil court to pay for damages for the stained rug.
i don't think it should be your friend should of been responsible enough and respected their cousins house i would be really mad if i gave my cousin key and did that to me but i wouldn't go that far to call the police it is their cousins fault to a point for trusting some one they thought would look after their house they took that chance
You did nothing wrong. You reasonably expected that you were her guests, and that she had the right to be there. Explain to your cousin, and the police, that there was no criminal intent. And dump the lying friend.
Not is not breaking and entering if this cousin gave her permition to "stay" or to enter the hout at any moment for any reason.
But you all can be charged for vandalism and destruction of private property or anything similar.
Is also posible that cousin gave the key for an "EMENRGENCY ONLY" so doing a party is outside the initial consent so technically it might be "breaking and entering", and I'm sure your friend lied when claimed her cousin said it was alright.
It doesn't matter if you thought you had consent to be there, you still can be charged. Thanks the party girl for that.
Get together and pay for the bed, it's cheaper than going to court; besides it's the right thing to do.
It is breaking and entering in at least some states. Owners can consent to some use of the property and not others. E.g. "you have permission to enter my house every three days to water the plants." You come in my house and water plants you have not committed a crime. If you come in my house an have a party you have now exceeded the permission and commited a crime.
It would not be unlike, I had you my car keys and say, "Go run down to the local market to get us some beer." You drive cross country. You have committed the crime of auto theft.
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