Do I still have power of attorney over someone that just ot out of jail?
April 18th, 2011 | 
Author: A friend of mine went to jail, and gave me power of attorney over him. I moved everything out of his apt helped him out. I showed the letter to his landlord, but now he is out. He owes me 400.00 that i used to help him. he only paid me a 100 today i am furious. do i still have the rights or not please help no sarcastic remarks this is serious
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
Sue him, you’re an attorney now.
call any lawyer in the phone book it should be free…
The Power of attorney stops when he resumes control (depending on how it was written)
(You could use it illegally of course to get your $300 back)
Power of Attorney in this case was to assist him while he was in jail. Now that he’s out of jail, the POA will do you no good.
Was it limited Power of Attorney (meaning the circumstance/timeframe/scope of your responsibility was outlined in the paperwork)?
If not, has your friend rescinded the PoA yet?
Was the $400 debt to you codified (in writing)?
Power of Attorney means you make certain decisions, pay his bills, etc. You cannot take money from his accounts just because you feel it is owed to you. The $100 was paid in good faith, and also indicates he does owe you the balance.
You will probably have to sue him for the rest of it, but if he *just* got out of jail and was kicked out of his apartment, give him a month or so to get back on his feet and pay it back.
Lesson learned: don’t loan money you can’t afford to.
the power of attorney, to be legal, has a date or time frame on it. Like a calendar date or it’ll say when he gets out of jail or indefinite or a year from this date.
We need to separate this temporary power of attorney from the debt that your friend owes you.
The PoA simple authorises you to act on your friends behalf in legal and business matters (generally to the benefit of your friend). Using that legal status, you were able to complete an agreement with your friends ex-landlord (I shall assume this was to terminate his tenancy and rescue his belongings).
This legal status ceased when your friend took control of his own affairs. At that point, he may simply have told you, or they may have to provide written notification that your services as PoA were no longer needed. (You would need to discuss this point with a legal brief, since different areas have their own arcane set of rules)
In the exercise of your duties as PoA, you had to outlay 400.00 (dollars?), to either complete or to secure some unknown product, process or service. I assume you received, and have kept, a receipt for this amount.
Your willing to lose a friendship for $300.00? Your friend was in jail nobody get paid in jail. Let your friend get on there feet and see what happens. The power of attorney was to help your friend out not to control him like a puppy dog.