(a) A person is guilty of theft of leased, rented, or entrusted property if the person:
(1) Purposely, with a purpose to defraud, or by false pretense takes, carries, leads, drives away, destroys, sells, secretes, converts, or appropriates in any wrongful manner any personal property of another person that is leased, rented, or entrusted to the actor; or
(2) Falsely reports of his or her wealth or mercantile credit and by the false report fraudulently obtains possession of personal property or the labor or service of another person.
(b) The amount involved in the theft of leased, rented, or entrusted property is deemed to be the highest value by any reasonable standard of the personal property, service, or labor.
(c) It is prima facie evidence of purpose to commit theft of leased or rented property if a person who has leased or rented the personal property of another person:
(1) Fails to return or make an arrangement acceptable with the lessor to return the personal property to the owner within five (5) days, excluding Saturday, Sunday, or a state or federal holiday, after proper notice following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement; or
(2) Presents identification to the lessor or renter of the personal property that is false, fictitious, or not current with respect to name, address, place of employment, or other appropriate item.
(d) Proper notice by the lessor or renter of the personal property shall consist of a written demand addressed and mailed by certified or registered mail to the lessee or rentee at the address given at the time of making the lease or rental agreement.
(e) The following factors constitute an affirmative defense to prosecution for theft of leased or rented property:
(1) That the lessee or rentee accurately stated his or her name and address at the time of lease or rental;
(2) That the lessee's or rentee's failure to return the personal property at the expiration date of the lease or rental agreement was lawful;
(3) That the lessee or rentee failed to receive the lessor's or renter's notice personally unless notice was waived; and
(4) That the lessee or rentee returned the personal property to the lessor, renter, or owner within forty-eight (48) hours of the commencement of prosecution, together with any charges for the overdue period and the value of damages to the personal property, if any.
(f)
(1) For any lease or rental contract of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more, the lessee may waive the notice required in subsection (c) of this section by signing a statement contained in the lease agreement or rental agreement. The waiver shall require a separate signature of the lessee.
(2) The form of the waiver shall be substantially as follows:
(g) A violation of this section is a:
(1) Class B felony if:
(A) The value of the property, service, or labor is twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or more;
(B) The property, service, or labor is obtained by the threat of serious physical injury to any person or destruction of the occupiable structure of another person; or
(C) The property, service, or labor is obtained by threat and the actor stands in a confidential or fiduciary relationship to the person threatened;
(2) Class C felony if:
(A) The value of the property, service, or labor is less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) but more than five thousand dollars ($5,000);
(B) The property, service, or labor is obtained by threat;
(C) The property is a firearm valued at two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more; or
(D) The value of the property, service, or labor is five hundred dollars ($500) or more and the theft occurred in an area declared to be under a state of emergency pursuant to proclamation by the President of the United States, the Governor, or the executive officer of a city or county;
(3) Class D felony if:
(A) The value of the property, service, or labor is five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less but more than one thousand dollars ($1,000);
(B) The property is a firearm valued at less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500);
(C) The value of the property, service, or labor is at least one hundred dollars ($100) or more but less than five hundred dollars ($500) and the theft occurred in an area declared to be under a state of emergency pursuant to proclamation by the President of the United States, the Governor, or the executive officer of a city or county;
(D) The property is livestock and the value of the livestock is in excess of two hundred dollars ($200); or
(E) The property is an electric power line, gas line, water line, wire or fiber insulator, electric motor, or other similar apparatus connected to a farm shop, on-farm grain drying and storage complex, heating and cooling system, environmental control system, animal production facility, irrigation system, or dwelling; or
(4) Class A misdemeanor if:
(A) The value of the property, service, or labor is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less; or
(B) The property has inherent, subjective, or idiosyncratic value to its owner or possessor even if the property has no market value or replacement cost.
“WAIVER OF NOTICE I acknowledge that I shall be subject to criminal penalties for theft under § 5-36-115 for: (a) failure to return or make arrangements acceptable to the lessor to return the property covered by this contract within five (5) days, excluding Saturday, Sunday, or state or federal holidays; or (b) presenting identification to the lessor or renter which is false, fictitious, or not current with respect to name, address, place of employment, or other appropriate items. I hereby waive my right to notice by certified or registered mail before such actions constitute prima facie evidence of an intent to commit theft. Signature Date”
Click to view form.