Life Keep the cash? Or give it back?

Carlota69 · 05-20-2011, 09:29 AM

Sorry, but I'd keep it...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110520/...us_found_money

SALT LAKE CITY – When Josh Ferrin closed on his family's first home, he never thought he'd make the discovery of a lifetime — then give it back.

Ferrin picked up the keys earlier this week and decided to check out the house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful. He was excited to finally have a place his family could call their own.

As he walked into the garage, a piece of cloth that clung to an attic door caught his eye. He opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder, then pulled out a metal box that looked like a World War II ammunition case.

"I freaked out, locked it my car, and called my wife to tell her she wouldn't believe what I had found," said Ferrin, who works as an artist for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

Then he found seven more boxes, all stuffed full with tightly wound rolls of cash bundled together with twine — more than $40,000.

Ferrin quickly took the boxes to his parent's house to count. Along with his wife and children, they spread out thousands of bills on a table, separating the bundles one by one.

They stopped counting at $40,000, but estimated there was at least $5,000 more on the table.

Ferrin thought about how such a large sum of money could go a long way, pay bills, buy things he never thought he could afford.

"I'm not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn't mean I didn't think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren't able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought," Ferrin said. "But the money wasn't ours to keep and I don't believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children."

He thought about the home's previous owner, Arnold Bangerter, who died in November and left the house to his children.

"I could imagine him in his workshop. From time to time, he would carefully bundle up $100 with twine, climb up into his attic and put it into a box to save. And he didn't do that for me," Ferrin said of the man who had worked as a biologist for the Utah Department of Fish and Game.

Bangerter purchased the home in 1966 and lived there with his wife, who died in 2005.

After most of the money was counted, Ferrin called one of Bangerter's sons with the news.

Kay Bangerter said he knew his father hid away money because he once found a bundle of cash taped beneath a drawer in their home, but he never considered his dad had stuffed away so much over the years.

"He grew up in hard times and people that survived that era didn't have anything when they came out of it unless they saved it themselves," Kay Bangerter, the oldest of the six children, told the Deseret News. "He was a saver, not a spender."

Bangerter called the money's return "a story that will outlast our generation and probably yours as well."

"I'm a father, and I worry about the future for my kids," Ferrin said. "I can see him putting that money away for a rainy day and it would have been wrong of me to deny him that thing he worked on for years. I felt like I got to write a chapter in his life, a chapter he wasn't able to finish and see it through to its conclusion."

Reerun_KC · 05-20-2011, 09:31 AM

I would of gave it back...

Fat Elvis · 05-20-2011, 09:31 AM

Give it back.

4th and Long · 05-20-2011, 09:34 AM

Gas is almost $4.00 a gallon!!! Keep it!!!

Ok, ... OK, ... I'd give it back.

**RockChalk** · 05-20-2011, 09:34 AM

Nice story. All too rare this day and age.

As for me, I would've given it back.

Sofa King · 05-20-2011, 09:37 AM

Hookers.

**Donger** · 05-20-2011, 09:37 AM

Boy, that's a tough one. I once chased down a guy who a left a two hundred bucks in the ATM right before me, because I knew that the money was his.

If I were the son, I'd give the new owner a nice reward.

**The Franchise** · 05-20-2011, 09:38 AM

Can I just give back the $40,000 and keep what was left on the table?

**Rain Man** · 05-20-2011, 09:41 AM

That's true character. No one would have known if he had kept it.

mikey23545 · 05-20-2011, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That's true character. No one would have known if he had kept it.

Indeed.

Character is what you do when none is watching.

**DaFace** · 05-20-2011, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hays

Keep half, finders fee

I'd be awfully tempted to do something along this line. Maybe not half, but at least keep a small portion.

In the end, I'd probably feel bad, though. So I'd probably give it all back with the hope that the recipient might feel thankful enough to let me keep some of it.

-King- · 05-20-2011, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikey23545

Indeed.

Character is what you do when none is watching.

...and then telling the story to the press.

Deberg_1990 · 05-20-2011, 09:44 AM

I wont lie, i would have been awfully tempted to keep it.

Hydrae · 05-20-2011, 09:45 AM

Nice story but I am not sure that I would have given it back. At that point, you have bought the house and anything in it, good or bad.

Simplex3 · 05-20-2011, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hydrae

Nice story but I am not sure that I would have given it back. At that point, you have bought the house and anything in it, good or bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warispeace

Somebody losing their wallet is one thing, when you buy a house you buy everything in it. I would be inclined to say, keep it.

This is where I'm leaning as well. If you had found $40k in foundation problems the former owner's kids wouldn't have written you a check.

05-20-2011, 09:29 AM	Topic Starter
Carlota69 MVP Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Las Vegas Casino cash: $9925282	Keep the cash? Or give it back? Sorry, but I'd keep it... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110520/...us_found_money SALT LAKE CITY – When Josh Ferrin closed on his family's first home, he never thought he'd make the discovery of a lifetime — then give it back. Ferrin picked up the keys earlier this week and decided to check out the house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful. He was excited to finally have a place his family could call their own. As he walked into the garage, a piece of cloth that clung to an attic door caught his eye. He opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder, then pulled out a metal box that looked like a World War II ammunition case. "I freaked out, locked it my car, and called my wife to tell her she wouldn't believe what I had found," said Ferrin, who works as an artist for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City. Then he found seven more boxes, all stuffed full with tightly wound rolls of cash bundled together with twine — more than $40,000. Ferrin quickly took the boxes to his parent's house to count. Along with his wife and children, they spread out thousands of bills on a table, separating the bundles one by one. They stopped counting at $40,000, but estimated there was at least $5,000 more on the table. Ferrin thought about how such a large sum of money could go a long way, pay bills, buy things he never thought he could afford. "I'm not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn't mean I didn't think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren't able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought," Ferrin said. "But the money wasn't ours to keep and I don't believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children." He thought about the home's previous owner, Arnold Bangerter, who died in November and left the house to his children. "I could imagine him in his workshop. From time to time, he would carefully bundle up $100 with twine, climb up into his attic and put it into a box to save. And he didn't do that for me," Ferrin said of the man who had worked as a biologist for the Utah Department of Fish and Game. Bangerter purchased the home in 1966 and lived there with his wife, who died in 2005. After most of the money was counted, Ferrin called one of Bangerter's sons with the news. Kay Bangerter said he knew his father hid away money because he once found a bundle of cash taped beneath a drawer in their home, but he never considered his dad had stuffed away so much over the years. "He grew up in hard times and people that survived that era didn't have anything when they came out of it unless they saved it themselves," Kay Bangerter, the oldest of the six children, told the Deseret News. "He was a saver, not a spender." Bangerter called the money's return "a story that will outlast our generation and probably yours as well." "I'm a father, and I worry about the future for my kids," Ferrin said. "I can see him putting that money away for a rainy day and it would have been wrong of me to deny him that thing he worked on for years. I felt like I got to write a chapter in his life, a chapter he wasn't able to finish and see it through to its conclusion."
Posts: 6,592

05-20-2011, 09:31 AM	#2
Reerun_KC Rock Chalk Jayhawks! KU!!! Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $8301160	I would of gave it back...
Posts: 934

05-20-2011, 09:31 AM	#3
Fat Elvis Sexiest Athlete Join Date: Apr 2001 Casino cash: $1231925	Give it back.
Posts: 12,401

05-20-2011, 09:34 AM	#4
4th and Long Wheeeeee!!! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: In a house Casino cash: $9214925	Gas is almost $4.00 a gallon!!! Keep it!!! Ok, ... OK, ... I'd give it back. __________________
Posts: 19,795

05-20-2011, 09:34 AM	#5
RockChalk Dirty Bit Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Lake of the Woods Casino cash: $3650002	Nice story. All too rare this day and age. As for me, I would've given it back.
Posts: 6,757

05-20-2011, 09:37 AM	#6
Sofa King Hello Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: South Dakota Casino cash: $792096 VARSITY	Hookers.
Posts: 23,232

05-20-2011, 09:37 AM	#7
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $10089900 VARSITY	Boy, that's a tough one. I once chased down a guy who a left a two hundred bucks in the ATM right before me, because I knew that the money was his. If I were the son, I'd give the new owner a nice reward. __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 181,336

05-20-2011, 09:38 AM	#8
The Franchise Most Valuable Villain Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $2825047	Can I just give back the $40,000 and keep what was left on the table?
Posts: 92,296

05-20-2011, 09:41 AM	#9
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3038491 VARSITY	That's true character. No one would have known if he had kept it. __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
Posts: 141,663

05-20-2011, 09:44 AM	#13
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3734454	I wont lie, i would have been awfully tempted to keep it.
Posts: 66,914

05-20-2011, 09:45 AM	#14
Hydrae Sandbox: Leander Lasercats Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Austin, Tx Casino cash: $2047000	Nice story but I am not sure that I would have given it back. At that point, you have bought the house and anything in it, good or bad.
Posts: 14,695