What happens if you buy something stolen without knowing it?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

If you genuinely did not know it was stolen, you do not commit any offence, because the offence of handling stolen goods (“receptación”) requires knowledge. What is at issue is whether you can keep the item. In Catalonia, if you bought it in good faith from an established shop that sells items of that kind or at a public auction, you keep it and the owner cannot claim it from you. If you bought it from a private individual, for example on a second-hand app or in the street, the owner can recover it without refunding what you paid. You will be able to claim the money back from whoever sold it to you. Who keeps the item The “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, generally protects anyone who buys a movable asset in good faith even if the seller had no right to sell it. With goods that were taken in a robbery or a theft, that were lost or that someone misappropriated, the rule changes. Their owner can claim them from whoever has them, unless that person bought them in good faith and paid for them in one of these places: A public auction. A lawfully open establishment that sells items like that one, for example a second-hand shop or a jeweller's. Outside those cases, if you bought it from a private individual, the owner can recover it and does not have to refund the price. Good faith is presumed and what counts is the good faith you had when you bought. Someone who knew, or could reasonably have known, that the seller had no right to sell it is not in good faith. If the owner makes a request in a way that provides reliable proof, for example by “burofax”, a certified letter with proof of content, you must give them the details of whoever sold it to you. If you do not, you are liable for any damage this causes them. The owner can claim it for many years. The action to recover it never becomes time-barred and acquisitive prescription (“usucapión”), which means acquiring it by having possessed it for the period laid down by law, does not start to run until the offence, its penalty or the civil action arising from it has become time-barred. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código civil”), which applies in most of the rest of Spain, anyone who bought the item in good faith in a shop open to the public also keeps it. But if they bought it at a public auction, the owner can recover it by refunding the price they paid. What criminal law says The offence of handling stolen goods punishes anyone who, knowing that something comes from an offence against property, such as a robbery or a fraud, buys or receives it in order to profit from it. If you did not know, there is no offence. But the courts can infer that you knew from circumstantial evidence, such as a price far below normal, the absence of an invoice, box or paperwork, a seller who does not identify themselves or a locked mobile phone. That is why it is advisable to keep the advert, the messages, the proof of payment and the seller's details. They will help you prove your good faith and claim against the seller. If you discover it was stolen The prudent course is as follows: If the police identify it as stolen, they can hold on to it. Cooperate and give them the details of whoever sold it to you. If you bought it in a shop or at an auction, make it clear that you bought it there in good faith. Claim from the seller what you paid and compensation for the damage, because a seller is obliged to deliver the item free of other people's rights. If there is no agreement, you can bring a claim in court, after attempting, in general, to negotiate as the law requires. If you bought it from a private individual and now know that it is stolen, do not sell it or get rid of it, because you could expose yourself to a criminal offence. Make it available to the police or to its owner.