SKYRIM SE:

Stolen items gets un-flagged as stolen at random intervals, usually after I've been playing for a few hours and items that are legal gets flagged as stolen when placed in containers, randomly. The stolen flag is then cleared once I take the item OUT of the container... Stolen items placed on followers don't show as stolen until I take them back OR the flag is gone... i.e. a stolen item has changed status to legal.

I am going to start by saying that I'm unsure if this is caused by a mod or not; it seems to be a vanilla bug BUT that it was fixed by the 1.2 patch...apparently this fix isn't working for my game and I am wondering if anyone has an idea as to why? The only thing that I can think of is that I have some mod that overwrites the vanilla patch changes, but I'm no modder. Is that even possible? If yes, then what kind of mod(s) may be causing this and if "no" then do you have any idea why this is happening?

I've tried making a brand new clean install and creating a brand new character but the problem persists. Stolen items randomly gets unflagged, usually after some time. I've also discoevered another major bug: taking back confiscated items does not count as stealing - i.e. I can walk right up to the evidence chest and take back my items while the guards are staring at me WITHOUT incurring a bounty... I have been trying to resolve this issue for weeks now but noone seems to have encountered this problem and or is able to provide any assistance. I've tripple-checked that all my mods are the correct version and that I have no known conflicts. I am at a total loss.

Please help!