Personal property · all 51 jurisdictions
A phone, a car, a tool, a deposit of anything — taken or kept, and the statute that can treble it.
This one turns on state law. The deadline, the penalty and the statute itself are different in every state, so start by picking yours.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| state | time to file | penalty | statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL Alabama | not written yet | ||
| AK Alaska | not written yet | ||
| AZ Arizona | 2 years↗ | — | A.R.S. § 12-542(5) |
| AR Arkansas | not written yet | ||
| CA California | 3 years↗ | Three times your actual damages, plus costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees, where the property was stolen and someone received, concealed or withheld it knowing that. No criminal charge or conviction is needed to bring it. (Cal. Penal Code § 496(c))↗ | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 338(c) |
| CO Colorado | not written yet | ||
| CT Connecticut | 3 years↗ | Treble damages. The statute is one sentence: a person who steals property, or who knowingly receives and conceals stolen property, shall pay the owner three times their damages. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-564)↗ | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577 |
| DE Delaware | not written yet | ||
| DC District of Columbia | not written yet | ||
| FL Florida | 4 years↗ | Threefold your actual damages with a $200 minimum, plus reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. Two conditions: you must make a written demand on the person before filing, and you must prove the theft by clear and convincing evidence. Punitive damages are not available on top. (Fla. Stat. § 772.11)↗ | Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(g) |
| GA Georgia | not written yet | ||
| HI Hawaii | not written yet | ||
| ID Idaho | not written yet | ||
| IL Illinois | not written yet | ||
| IN Indiana | not written yet | ||
| IA Iowa | not written yet | ||
| KS Kansas | not written yet | ||
| KY Kentucky | not written yet | ||
| LA Louisiana | not written yet | ||
| ME Maine | not written yet | ||
| MD Maryland | not written yet | ||
| MA Massachusetts | not written yet | ||
| MI Michigan | 3 years↗ | Three times your actual damages, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees, against a person who stole, embezzled or converted your property to their own use. (Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2919a(1))↗ | Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(2) |
| MN Minnesota | not written yet | ||
| MS Mississippi | not written yet | ||
| MO Missouri | not written yet | ||
| MT Montana | not written yet | ||
| NE Nebraska | not written yet | ||
| NV Nevada | not written yet | ||
| NH New Hampshire | not written yet | ||
| NJ New Jersey | not written yet | ||
| NM New Mexico | not written yet | ||
| NY New York | 3 years↗ | — | N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(3) |
| NC North Carolina | 3 years↗ | The value of what was taken, plus consequential damages of at least $150 and at most $3,000, plus punitive damages and reasonable attorney's fees. It applies to larceny, embezzlement and obtaining property by false pretense, and it may be brought whether or not anyone was ever criminally charged or convicted. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-538.2)↗ | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(4) |
| ND North Dakota | not written yet | ||
| OH Ohio | 4 years↗ | Liquidated damages of whichever is greater, $200 or three times the value of the property. Where the property was worth under $5,000 you may also recover your costs and reasonable attorney's fees -- but only if you first served a written demand for payment by certified mail and gave the person thirty days to pay. No criminal conviction is required. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2307.61)↗ | Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.09(B) |
| OK Oklahoma | not written yet | ||
| OR Oregon | not written yet | ||
| PA Pennsylvania | not written yet | ||
| RI Rhode Island | not written yet | ||
| SC South Carolina | not written yet | ||
| SD South Dakota | not written yet | ||
| TN Tennessee | not written yet | ||
| TX Texas | 2 years↗ | Your actual damages plus additional damages of up to $1,000. Court costs and reasonable attorney's fees are not discretionary here -- the statute says a prevailing party shall be awarded them. (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134.005)↗ | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) |
| UT Utah | not written yet | ||
| VT Vermont | not written yet | ||
| VA Virginia | not written yet | ||
| WA Washington | 3 years↗ | — | Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.080(2) |
| WV West Virginia | not written yet | ||
| WI Wisconsin | not written yet | ||
| WY Wyoming | not written yet | ||
penalty · 7 of 10 jurisdictions carry this column.
Every value links to the primary source it was written from. A value with no “checked” date has been written from that source but not yet compared against it by a person.
Reuse: the table and the wording in it are published under CC BY-SA 4.0. Copy them, credit canisue.app, and release anything you build from them under the same licence. The statutes, court pages and agency pages cited here belong to their own publishers and are not ours to license.
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