Conversion - Explained
Civil Action for Wrongfully Depriving Somone of their Property
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 20th, 2024
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What is Conversion?
Conversion is a civil cause of action for taking another persons property without her consent.
What is required for a Conversion action?
Conversion entails the wrongful exercise of dominion (power) and control over the personal (non-land) resources of someone else.
In doing so, a person violates the owner's lawful right to exclude others from her resources.
The deprivation may be temporary or permanent, but it must constitute a serious invasion of the owner's legal rights.
- Example: Stealing something from an employer is conversion as is purchasing something that has been stolen. Failing to return something at a designated time, delivering something to the wrong party, and destruction or alteration of someone else's property also constitutes a conversion.
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