Finders Are Not Keepers — The Duty to Return · Yalla China

The situation: A person finds an expensive phone in a cafe and keeps it, and when the owner (after tracking its location) demands it back, refuses, claiming 'finders keepers.'

Applicable law: The Civil Code requires a finder of lost property to return it to its owner or hand it to the competent authority (police/administration). Ownership does not pass to the finder; refusing return after a demand may be 'unlawful detention' requiring return and compensation, and for high value with refusal may approach unlawful appropriation. The finder may recover reasonable storage costs and possibly a reward if the owner offered one.

Outcome: The finder was ordered to return the phone; had he destroyed or sold it he'd owe its value, whereas returning it would have entitled him only to his costs.