Hey everybody,

I'm not sure if this was a bug or if it was something that happened cause of my crime statistics. I mule a lot of loot to the whiterun blacksmith and belethors shop. Other then that i am a new Dark Brotherhood member with 3 murders so far, i think i only have 1-2 tresspasses. But i have 24 stolen marks against me because of weird loot behavior. I dont go into houses or anything like that to steal, i only loot from barrows and bandit hideouts. But i will see stuff in my inventory flagged as stolen. I think that there is a bug where if you put something in a container and tell your follower to loot the container whatever they grab will flag as stolen. But i have items getting flagged that are just being picked up on shelves and tables. I have 600 iron arrows and it is flagged as stolen and i know i only ever loot those from bandits or tabletops in bandit hideouts or burial sites.

Anyways my main concern is why are stores locking their doors when i leave? they arent dead cause i will pick the lock, go back inside and they will be in there.

Your game seems badly bugged. I would either go back to a save before these issues occurred or restart. Sorry buddy.

What time are you leaving these stores? Around 8PM or so, most lock their doors. If you are in there after 8PM, you can leave, but the door is locked.

Not sure if it is still the case, since I only ever got caught back in 2011, but back then overloading your follower by putting a ton of stuff in a container and getting your follower to take what was in the container would get everything flagged as stolen. Also sometime if you are in some one else's place (I got caught out in Dragonsreach) and you get them to empty a barrel, if there is something already in there, that could also come up as stolen, even though it would not for your player. That could have been a bug though. You put one stolen arrow in a whole bunch, or one of anything stolen amongst your good ones, the stolen flag can go on a rampage and the lot will come up as stolen. If you really want what is rightfully your back you can try separating them all out, to see if the one that was actually stolen will turn up and the rest will clear. But when it happened to me they would later turn their colours again anyway, so I usually dumped the lot in isolation some where. Always store your stolen items in a separate container to prevent any problems.

And if you steal an item, then drop it and pick it up again, that is counted as the item being stolen again, so you can end up with some very high statistics even if you only stole a few things, but kept dropping them for what ever reason and reclaiming them.

Simple explanation - Are you leaving the store in the middle of their parting comment? This will cause the shopkeeper to follow you outside and lock their door when they re-enter. In future, be polite and wait until they are finished talking before leaving.

I always leave the shop when they're talking and that has never happened. Your games sounds bugged too.

Looks like he may be right

I tested it out in Whiterun several times. If i wait for them to finish talking and then exit it doesnt lock. However if i close the menu down and exit right away, if done fast enough i see them exit too and the shopkeeper stood outside the door for about 2-3 seconds then went in and the doors were locked. I never noticed before how fast i do it...usually i sell my stuff, once i'm done i leave. I must really be fast and i dont know it cause i actually had to try it 3 times to get the warmaiden guy to come out.

Must be a bug. I have never waited for the shopkeepers to finish talking and I can always go back in straight afterwards.