Business that rents property and loans money finances a purchase of jewelry for a customer. But the financing paperwork terms it as a "Rental-Purchase Agreement" with normal language you would expect to see on a furniture or appliance contract. Buyer fails to pay the bill and fails to return the jewelry upon proper demand.

Am I going to be OK charging this D with Theft or Theft of Service? I might be playing too much of a Defense Attorney role in my mind. I'm thinking of the argument that the type of merchandise (jewelry) was never meant to be property to be returned, unlike cars or furniture/appliances. Therefore, fail to pay the bill is a civil case not a criminal case. My prosecutor side of me is thinking that it doesn't matter what type of property it is as long as the underlying paperwork (the rental/purchase agreement) does not convey ownership until the bill is paid in full.

Anyone else around the state run into this situation before? If so, how did you handle it?

Sounds like a civil matter, lawsuit based on a contract.

I agree with Greg. This is a civil mattter; I would not file a criminal case. We have too many real criminal cases to deal with already.

Thanks for the responses guys. That is the way I'm leaning but I wanted to bounce it around the site for more input.