The Glade 4.0

Stealing the copper pipes from occupied homes is pretty common in MD...

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Wow ...

Georgia solved that problem by requiring active construction permits and limiting who could recycle high theft materials.

AC coils, copper wire under 16 AWG, plate metal, most sheet metal, and construction beams actually require you possess a valid Georgia contractor's license.

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A friend of mine's now-ex husband had a major drug habit. Near as anyone can tell, he stripped the house they were getting ready to move into for pipes, wires, fixtures, etc. Then collected the insurance money and used THAT to pay for drugs too,then pretty much vanished, leaving my friend holding the deed to a house she couldn't use and couldn't afford to fix.

I tried to buy a house that was going to be foreclosed on, but when the bank's financing didn't come through fast enough, the guy just finished the foreclosure, stripped the house, and absconded to Florida (he hadn't made house payments in 8 months or something). Not looking for a fixer-up-er, I ended up not buying the house obviously.

MD, I believe, now requires you to show ID when dropping off scrap, and the scrap dealer has to provide updates at intervals (weekly?) before moving the scrap. That way the police, if a theft is reported, can track it down.

That's not a very good solution. If you end up with those materials, lawfully, with no contractor license, you can't recycle them. What's your recourse? Dump it in the woods?

Take it across the state line and sell it.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

You can't actually end up with those materials lawfully unless you have a construction permit and at least temporary licensing. AC coils in particular are even further regulated by Federal law. Almost all metals are covered by the ROHS regulations as a matter of course as well.

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Transporting stolen materials across state lines puts you in Federal jurisdiction for your crimes.

Amusingly, I'm far less supportive of government in general than both of you, but I do support this law. It stops a lot of vandalism and malicious destruction of private property, as it removes the profit mechanism from the crime.

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I think there may be a disconnect here...



I think it's a pretty sensible law, especially since you specified that temporary permits are available.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Diamondeye:

I did a bit more checking. You can also recycle those things if you can provide the original bill of sale and proof of ownership to the recycling outfit. However, without such documents, and this is the part of the law that sticks in my craw, you are considered to be in possession of stolen property at a minimum if you cannot prove ownership of the materials.

That said, the law came about because of pressure from the University System of Georgia and from hotel owners. There were several rashes of window-unit coil and radiator thefts in Georgia, particularly from dorms and other temporary student housing. Likewise, most of the universities in the state are old enough that some of the historic buildings have copper downspouts and gutter systems. A few buildings at one college were stripped during a shutdown period.

These crimes have all but disappeared since they made it more difficult to recycle materials that come from contractor or construction sites or are related to building and housing materials.

Arathain:

I am fairly certain that federal law requires you show ID when recycling most metals and materials considered to be construction debris now as part of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances regulations. And here, we have some enterprising outfits that are taking electronics and paying out like more established recycling outfits.

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Happens all the time. Visit an old farm sometime.

Similar issues with my house (built c. 1955). I'm at the point of needing siding and to redo the hardwood floors. (Previous owners bred Burmese mountain dogs, and between them and their cats, there's a lot of damage to the floors.)

At least I've gotten all but 2 of the original windows replaced. It's nice to not have massive drafts.

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When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

Did some painting of Downstairs and The Office that's been pretty much done.

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Holy shitsnacks!

How do you black out your den windows enough for the projector?

We're working on that. Need to get drapes put up. Its been a bit of a process. But really, the only time its an issue is on the weekend.

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Holy shitsnacks!

So I take out old plumbing because I'm changing the layout of my bathroom. I buy new copper to fit the new layout I have the old copper and...

Is it automatically assumed the material is stolen if I travel across state lines to sell it? Does this temporary permit to sell include a fee?

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Traveling across state lines to sell that obviously stolen copper? Federal offense, time in the big house, if you survive the arrest assuming you are open carrying?

Honestly Elm, it is probably better to work something out with a contractor friend who knows the regs and can get you the best price for the metal.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Why the hell would you take it across state lines? That seems counterproductive. Rip it out, sell it to your local recycler.

I can't imagine that the prices would be different enough on such a small quantity to justify the cost in gas for transporting the copper.

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Holy shitsnacks!

All this sounds awful, when is a good time to buy a house anyway? I don't plan on having this job for more than a few years before moving on.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn