BILL REQ. #: S-3545.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/11/12. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to clarifying the location at which the crime of theft of rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned property occurs; and amending RCW 9A.56.096.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 9A.56.096 and 2009 c 431 s 11 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) A person who, with intent to deprive the owner or owner's
agent, wrongfully obtains, or exerts unauthorized control over, or by
color or aid of deception gains control of personal property that is
rented, leased, or loaned by written agreement to the person, is guilty
of theft of rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned property.
(2) The finder of fact may presume intent to deprive if the finder
of fact finds either of the following:
(a) That the person who rented or leased the property failed to
return or make arrangements acceptable to the owner of the property or
the owner's agent to return the property to the owner or the owner's
agent within seventy-two hours after receipt of proper notice following
the due date of the rental, lease, lease-purchase, or loan agreement;
or
(b) That the renter, lessee, or borrower presented identification
to the owner or the owner's agent that was materially false,
fictitious, or not current with respect to name, address, place of
employment, or other appropriate items.
(3) As used in subsection (2) of this section, "proper notice"
consists of a written demand by the owner or the owner's agent made
after the due date of the rental, lease, lease-purchase, or loan
period, mailed by certified or registered mail to the renter, lessee,
or borrower at: (a) The address the renter, lessee, or borrower gave
when the contract was made; or (b) the renter, lessee, or borrower's
last known address if later furnished in writing by the renter, lessee,
borrower, or the agent of the renter, lessee, or borrower.
(4) The replacement value of the property obtained must be utilized
in determining the amount involved in the theft of rental, leased,
lease-purchased, or loaned property.
(5)(a) Theft of rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned property
is a class B felony if the rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned
property is valued at five thousand dollars or more.
(b) Theft of rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned property is
a class C felony if the rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned
property is valued at seven hundred fifty dollars or more but less than
five thousand dollars.
(c) Theft of rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned property is
a gross misdemeanor if the rental, leased, lease-purchased, or loaned
property is valued at less than seven hundred fifty dollars.
(6) The crime of theft of rental, leased, lease-purchased, or
loaned property may be deemed to have been committed either at the
physical location where the written agreement for the rental, lease,
lease-purchase, or loan of the property was executed under subsection
(1) of this section, or at the address where proper notice may be
mailed to the renter, lessee, or borrower under subsection (3) of this
section.
(7) This section applies to rental agreements that provide that the
renter may return the property any time within the rental period and
pay only for the time the renter actually retained the property, in
addition to any minimum rental fee, to lease agreements, to lease-purchase agreements as defined under RCW 63.19.010, and to vehicles
loaned to prospective purchasers borrowing a vehicle by written
agreement from a motor vehicle dealer licensed under chapter 46.70 RCW.
This section does not apply to rental or leasing of real property under
the residential landlord-tenant act, chapter 59.18 RCW.