Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply |
Member |
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? | ||
|
Member |
Sounds like a civil matter, lawsuit based on a contract. | |||
|
Member |
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. | |||
|
Member |
Thanks for the responses guys. That is the way I'm leaning but I wanted to bounce it around the site for more input. | |||
|
Powered by Social Strata |
Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
© TDCAA, 2001. All Rights Reserved.