Conversion (law)

Conversion is an intentional tort, defined as taking property with the intent to exercise ownership over it in a way that conflicts with the rightful owner’s right to possession. In England and Wales, it is a strict liability tort. Its criminal law counterparts include larceny, theft, and criminal conversion, though in jurisdictions that recognize it, criminal conversion is a lesser crime than theft/larceny. Questions about joint ownership in business arrangements like partnerships typically fall under equity and do not qualify as conversion.

Traditionally, conversion occurs when a chattel is lost, then found by someone who appropriates it for their own use without legal authority. It also applies when goods are bailed for safekeeping and are later misused or misappropriated by the bailee or a third party. As a purely civil wrong, conversion differs from both theft and unjust enrichment. Theft is always an act inconsistent with another’s rights and also constitutes conversion, but not all conversions are thefts because conversion does not require dishonesty.

Conversion also differs from unjust enrichment: in a claim for unjust enrichment, the person holding another’s property can raise a change of position defense, arguing they unwittingly used up the assets. For conversion, there must always be an element of voluntarily dealing with another’s property in a way inconsistent with their rights. The elements of conversion are: intent to convert the tangible or intangible property of another to one’s own possession and use, followed by the actual conversion of that property. Another formulation states that a claimant must show a tortious conversion of the chattel, a right to property in it, and a right to immediate possession that is absolute, unconditional, and not dependent on performing some act.

Elements of conversion

A common medieval example involved bolts of cloth bailed for safekeeping, which the bailee or a third party took and made into clothes for their own use or sale. Other examples include cutting down trees on someone else’s land and removing them without permission, or taking someone else’s furniture without consent and putting it into storage. The use of a patient’s body parts after surgical removal to treat his leukemia raised conversion questions, addressed in the case of Moore v. Regents of the University of California.