Man Bought A Used Couch And Found...…...Inside!!

[fmdog44]

Sometimes, buying second hand can really pay off.
A Michigan man bought a couch and ottoman from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore shop last month but recently discovered a happy little bonus in the furniture — US$43,000 in cold, hard cash.
“It still boggles my mind,” Howard Kirby told CBS affiliate WNEM in Bay City, Mich. “I still have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming or something.”
After buying the furniture in December, Kirby found the ottoman a little uncomfortable as the weeks went by. His daughter decided to investigate and discovered the cushion was stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash. It wound up totalling a whopping $43,170.
After finding the hidden treasure, Kirby decided to track down the previous owner of the furniture in the hopes of returning the cash to its rightful owner. He found Kim Fauth-Newberry, whose late grandfather previously owned the couch, and gave her the money.
Kirby admitted he could have used the cash but decided keeping it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“I always thought what would I do if that ever happened and now I know, and it makes me feel good,” Kirby said.
The store manager where Kirby bought the furniture was touched by Kirby’s generosity.
“To me, this is someone that despite what they’re going through – and in spite of their own needs – says ‘I’m just going to do the right thing,’” Rick Merling said.

What rubs me wrong on this story is apparently the family that owned the couch did not give him one cent for returning it. This was on the local news yesterday and they never said a word about anything other than a thank you.

 

[Catlady]

I agree, they should have given him at LEAST 10% of the total.

It also bothers me that this granddaughter wasn't even the owner of the money. And why did the old guy have $43k hiding in the furniture, who was he hiding it FROM? Lots of questions there.

 

[applecruncher]

I also feel they should have offered/given him a couple thousand dollars. Something odd though...why hide that much $$ in a piece of furniture?

 

[Keesha]

Cheap @$%#.... ers!!!!

 

[rkunsaw]

The IRS might be interested in why he hid so much money.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I don't see anything sinister or strange about keeping a little stash of cash where you can get your hands on it quickly when needed.

Money is one of those topics that we don't talk about. We might all be surprised at just how much nice clean cash is stashed in sugar bowls and sofa cushions across the country.

It probably started out as a few bucks and just accumulated slowly over time.

 

[applecruncher]

I don't see anything sinister or strange about keeping a little stash of cash where you can get your hands on it quickly when needed.

Money is one of those topics that we don't talk about. We might all be surprised at just how much nice clean cash is stashed in sugar bowls and sofa cushions across the country.

It probably started out as a few bucks and just accumulated slowly over time.

A few dollars or even an accumulation of a couple hundred is one thing, but $40,000+ is another matter imo. Even if the money is legitimate, it should be in a bank or safer place than a furniture cushion. A fire or break-in could wipe it out. Furthermore, if something happened to the person who owns/hid such a large sum, heirs would be entitled to it. But nobody benefits from money they don't know about.

 

[Catlady]

A few dollars or even an accumulation of a couple hundred is one thing, but $40,000+ is another matter imo. Even if the money is legitimate, it should be in a bank or safer place than a furniture cushion. A fire or break-in could wipe it out. Furthermore, if something happened to the person who owns/hid such a large sum, heirs would be entitled to it. But nobody benefits from money they don't know about.

Even worse, the couch could have become decrepit and the couch thrown in the dump or set on fire. I can understand, like you said, hiding a few hundred for emergencies and such. My cousin hid it in the freezer, only because her husband spent every penny available.

 

[StarSong]

The grandfather likely lived during the Depression-era and didn't completely trust banks. Or perhaps he thought his family would take the funds from him. That generation lived by the motto of Cash is King.

Without other proof, it seems unlikely that he accumulated these funds through illegal schemes. $43K isn't all that much money if he'd been stashing it bit by bit over decades - no more so than if he'd put that same amount in a bank account.

Agreed that a reward would have been in order.

 

[Catlady]

I remember reading about this guy who dressed in rags and lived in a house full of old stuff and people gave him food and stuff. When he died his relatives went to clean out his house to sell it. They found a lot of coffee cans filled with money, I think it was at least one million $.

 

[fmdog44]

One reason not to hide money is you might forget where you put it. Happens all the time, like those couch people.

 

[Camper6]

You know people!!

When people abandon stuff and you end up buying it, you are under no obligation to return it.

You buy it on an as is, no guarantee option. The word abandon comes in to play. People put stuff on the curb which they no longer want and you are entitled to take it free of charge. If the fix for a lawn mower is quick because you have knowledge you are under no obligation to return it to the previous owner.

I mean if people can't keep track of $40,000 or even check to see if there is anything of value in it then why should I have to search for the owner.

Now if this case went to court and the previous owners found out about it would they have a chance of getting it back?

I will return a wallet with identification and the cash but guess what? I would return the cash but I would keep a portion just in case you run into one of those who say thank you and don't give a reward. Then if they offer it you can just turn it down.

 

[RadishRose]

I would have liked the man to have received a reward. But, no one is entitled to a reward for doing the right thing or any other kindness. Then, it's no longer a reward; it justs becomes a payment for a service.

 

[Catlady]

I may be morally wrong, but I have a rule. If I find money that has IDs (wallet etc) I will return it. If I see someone drop a wallet or bag full of money or see money fall out of an armored truck, I will return it. In his case I would have kept the money, especially since he needed the money.

 

[RadishRose]

I'll be honest, I would be hard pressed to give the money to the grand daughter. Was there a will naming her as sole beneficiary? Were there others who would have been first in line per their state law?

 

[Pecos]

This story delighted my wife who is on the constant lookout for "goodness" in humanity.

 

[Camper6]

I would have liked the man to have received a reward. But, no one is entitled to a reward for doing the right thing or any other kindness. Then, it's no longer a reward; it justs becomes a payment for a service.

The point is. Does he deserve a reward.? Not entitled. Expected. A reward for finding the owner? He didn't have to go through the trouble. A reward makes so much sense.


Her great grandfather gave her the money and she kept it in the couch? I'm skeptical.

 

[PopsnTuff]

Saw that on the news last nite....that was very commendable of him to return the money to the relatives....just hope there's no drug addicts in the fam where the money will get fought over and used unwisely.

 

[Catlady]

I just found this story:

There's Joe Temeczko, who roamed his Minneapolis neighborhood looking for throwaways to fix up and sell or give away. The Polish immigrant and former prisoner of war did odd jobs, had no family, and lived in a modest house filled with the things he scavenged from the street.
His attorney, William Wangensteen, describes himself as "blown away" when Temeczko's bank called a few years ago, trying to enlist Wangensteen's support in persuading the little old man with the thick accent to convert his million-dollar bank account into more lucrative investments.

Before that, Wangensteen had no idea that the handyman who rotated the attorney's screens and storm windows every spring and fall was so rich. Wangensteen says Temeczko would get free food from local charities and read newspapers in the store so he wouldn't have to buy them.

Temeczko took the news of the 9/11 attacks hard; he had his will rewritten, leaving $1.4 million to the City of New York. He died a few weeks later in October 2001 at age 86. Temeczko's bequest helped fund a park renovation, as well as "The Daffodil Project," in which thousands of volunteers planted more than two million flower bulbs across New York City as a living memorial to 9/11 victims. Appropriate, because Temeczko loved gardening and often shared the products of his labors with friends and neighbors.

 

[AnnieA]

I may be morally wrong, but I have a rule. If I find money that has IDs (wallet etc) I will return it. If I see someone drop a wallet or bag full of money or see money fall out of an armored truck, I will return it. In his case I would have kept the money, especially since he needed the money.

I don't think you are. The family got rid of the furniture. The guy who hid the money obviously didn't share with his family that he had it. In this case, I think the buyer was morally okay to keep it. And I've gone back through a fast food drive through line before to return money because I realized the clerk had given me too much change.

 

[toffee]

finders keepers ---losers weepers ...hahahaha

 

[treeguy64]

I have mixed feelings about the couch story: It was impossible for the new couch owner to know the truth behind the $43G's before he embarked on his search. With that in mind, he did the right thing, as I would have done. However, had I known that the money had belonged to a now deceased individual, and that his granddaughter was a no class piece of work who would not have offered me a hefty reward for giving her the stash, there's no way I would have given it to her. Absent a will leaving her the couch money, I'm not even certain she actually had any legal right to it, especially if there were other blood relatives around. Oh well........

 

[hollydolly]

Even worse, the couch could have become decrepit and the couch thrown in the dump or set on fire. I can understand, like you said, hiding a few hundred for emergencies and such. My cousin hid it in the freezer, only because her husband spent every penny available.

apparently the freezer is one of the first places burglars look ...

 

[Liberty]

I don't see anything sinister or strange about keeping a little stash of cash where you can get your hands on it quickly when needed.

Money is one of those topics that we don't talk about. We might all be surprised at just how much nice clean cash is stashed in sugar bowls and sofa cushions across the country.

It probably started out as a few bucks and just accumulated slowly over time.

Many years ago, not long after we were married... we bought our first house in Cleveland, Ohio - west side - lots of old houses there that were built before the depression, but whose inhabitants obviously lived through the depression in them. One day there was a big fire behind our house, a few streets over.

The wind blew up and over and all at once money started flying through the smoke filled air. Later we found out the wallpaper had been layered with bills. Like maybe a hundred thousand bucks or so. Think about that - how much that amount of cash would have been worth during the depression.

There were rumors our house had cash in it to, but after peeling some 13 layers of wallpaper off a balconed "nursery" bedroom wall without finding nary a nickle, your's truly started to repaper that old wall, giving up any hopes of discovering a fortune between the patterns!

 

[Aunt Bea]

I remember cleaning my father's house one day and seeing the floor covered with twenty-dollar bills.

I had backed into an old marble-topped table next to his chair and it dislodged a loose pile of money that he apparently kept on the wooden crosspiece below the marble slab.

I was a nervous wreck because I knew if I didn't get them back into place exactly the way he had hidden them I would never hear the end of it. I did the best I could and neither of us ever mentioned it but I have a feeling that he knew it had been discovered.

I hope that when I die whoever cleans out my apartment and finds my little stash has the good sense to keep their mouth shut and enjoy it, it will make a great story for them when they get old!