This is a legit question. I've seen or have been told multiple answers. Basically in the US specifically in the state of Tennessee can a parent take the property of their adult son/daughter while they live with their parents? For example someone buys a phone and gives it to them can the parent take it away?
I'm not to familiar with these types of laws and I realize that some might think I'm just being dumb but I really am not sure the answer
As already noted in the comments by nick012000 and bdb484, first, the fact that the parents are the landlords of the adult child as such gives them no right to the property of the child.
One could try to argue that there is implicit rental contract between parents and child where the parents provide the room for no direct monetary compensation but instead retain the right to confiscate valuable property of the child as payment.
While I assume one could make a contract of that form (with some limit to the total value to be confiscated that represents the rent) I don't think any assumption that the implicit agreement between adult children and parents should be interpreted that way would hold in court.
Out where I live we have trespass of movable property which involves unlawfully interfering with or damaging someone's movable property. It's a wrong against the right of possession of the plaintiff. I just checked the trespass laws in Tennessee and I dont see any clauses about trespass of movable property so I'm not sure about the legal proceedings one can take on this offence
