Buddy's jacket at my house - ethical dilemma

[evolvedForm]

My good buddy and ex-roommate left his jacket at my house last year. It is extremely fake leather - basically rubber -and it cost him 15 bucks, a fact which he used to mention a lot. But this jacket actually looks pretty good and it's good for wearing around on a daily basis. In parts where the spray paint has worn off, there are blue marks. (It's not really spray paint, i don't think.)

Recently he's bugging me about how he wants it back. He came by to get it one time but I was out wearing it. I'm trying to elude him because I think there's some kind of rule that if you leave something at someone's house, it eventually becomes there's. Its probably even a law in some states.

So who deserves the jacket?

Here's my case: we always gave him [censored] for wearing a 15 dollar rubber jacket - not bad [censored], just joking around kinda [censored]. So I think he ditched it at my place cuz he felt self-conscious about wearing it. Plus he always denegrated it, and didn't give a [censored] about it, getting it dirty cuz it was so cheap. And he's kind of a primadonna. Furthermore, one time he like my shoes so much he went out and bought the same pair a few months later. So deep down I think he has seen his old jacket on me and thought "wow that looks good, i want it back" in his envious little mind.

So I don't lay much credence to his claim, plus I think I deserve a little compensation after he copied my shoes. And he stole one of my polo shirts one time, but I didn't wear it anyway.

Also, he couldn't have needed it that bad since he left it at my house about 2 months before winter was over.

Here's his case, as far as I can tell:

He paid for it... 15 bucks... a long time ago.

Am I a dick for hiding it?

[asofel]

are you serious?

[RayPowers]

Here, I made a poll to help with the voting here.

[Mi_T_Sharp]

The only plausable explaination for this is that your name is Kramer and your friend is Newman.

[RunDownHouse]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's his case, as far as I can tell:

He owns it.

[/ QUOTE ]
I guess that makes you a thief under guise of a friend.

[RayPowers]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Here's his case, as far as I can tell:

He owns it.

[/ QUOTE ]
I guess that makes you a thief under guise of a friend.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't forget to vote!

Ray

[jonny drama]

my buddy and I did this to each other a few times, usually with t-shirts. Once I caught him wearing my t-shirt and I called him on it, and he says "well you're always wearing my keisel t-shirt" and I said, "but you're always wearing my usa t-shirt". We decided that once one of us wore the other's shirt three times, ownership had officially changed hands. But if he wanted it back I would have given it to him.

[RunDownHouse]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't forget to vote!

[/ QUOTE ]
Is it too late to register?

[JasonK]

Even I voted dick, thief and idiot.

[4_2_it]