As discussed in my last article, many states hold parents/guardians civilly liable for theft from retailers by minors (i.e., "civil recovery liability"). While many states' statutes may promote parental responsibility by holding parents/guardians civilly liable for not exercising effective control over their minor children, not all states do.1 Instead, some states have created statutes that provide a defense to the parents/guardians of the minor child for the purpose of limiting parent/guardian liability. States such as Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and North Dakota all provide defenses that can essentially excuse the parents/guardians from civil recovery liability. Subsection (3) of…

In the United States and its territories, other than laws concerning consumption of alcohol, most people believe that once a person reaches eighteen years of age, provided they do not otherwise suffer from some legal incapacity or disability, that the person is considered an adult and is legally responsible for his or her own actions. As parents, many of us long for this day of being free from legal responsibilities of parenthood, even if it comes with some mixed feelings of whether your children can really fend for themselves, as many believe the magical age of 18 puts an end…

Retailers generally understand that various potential issues may arise when apprehending a shoplifter and their concerns are heightened when the shoplifter is a minor. Parents who are not contacted by a retailer during their minor's detention tend to get upset, rightfully concerned for the safety and well-being of their minor child but sometimes mistakenly believing that their child was illegally detained because they often only get the child's side of the story. As a result, many retailers will choose to handle the apprehension of a juvenile shoplifter with special care. Some parents have the mistaken belief that a minor shoplifter's…

It is a common misbelief that in order to commit the act of shoplifting, an individual must exit the store and permanently deprive the merchant of the unpurchased merchandise. The truth is, however, that in most states, an individual commits the act of shoplifting by taking actions that would cause one to reasonably believe that he intends to permanently deprive the merchant of the goods. Most states require that the merchant have probable cause (or reasonable grounds) to believe that an individual has committed an act of theft or is attempting to shoplift before making a decision to detain the…

Many businesses have trust accounts with banking institutions to hold the client's funds in, but just how safe are the client's funds that are deposited into such an account? The general conception may be that a trust account is inviolable in that the clients' funds or portion of the funds are specifically earmarked for disbursement to that client only and cannot be used by the entity holding the money in any other way. Depending on the type of trust account, the type of entity that has oversight of it and the extent of the oversight, this general conception may be…

Almost all states have statutes that protect retailers by providing a civil remedy that allows for the recovery of actual damages arising from incidents of theft. Actual damages are in addition to any civil statutory (penalty) damages the retailer may be entitled to and generally include restitution. In a previous article from our Firm, it was explained that even if merchandise is recovered in merchantable condition, there are actual damages. Likewise, and even less likely to be contested, when the retailer is not able to recover the merchandise or the assets taken by the theft offender, the retailer suffers actual…

Many are under the assumption that a retailer does not sustain any damages if the merchandise stolen in a shoplifting incident is recovered in merchantable condition. However, this is not the case. Just because the merchandise is not damaged does not mean there are no legal damages. Our "Of Counsel" attorneys for each state have advised us that in order to establish an injury giving rise to a right to recovery, the retailer need only show an invasion of a legal right. Upon a showing of theft, the majority of state statutes allow a retailer to request actual damages, if…

Many people are familiar with civil recovery demands in Florida for $200 and use that amount as requested statutory damages for any civil shoplift or internal theft demands made. However, they may be leaving money on the table by not pursuing civil theft claims for what the Legislature of Florida intended. Florida Statutes Section 772.11 provides that "[a]ny person who proves by clear and convincing evidence that he or she has been injured in any fashion by reason of any violation of [Florida Statutes Sections] 812.012 - 812.037 or s. 825.103(1) has a cause of action for threefold the actual…

Does a Request for Civil Damages Arising from a Theft Constitute the Collection of a Debt? When a request for civil damages is made, many retail theft offenders assume that the request qualifies as an attempt to collect a debt and mistakenly believe that they are provided with the protections listed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). Congress enacted the FDCPA in 1977 "to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to ensure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent state action to protect…

The difference between a civil claim and a criminal claim and the fact that there can generally be either a civil or criminal claim or both simultaneously stemming from the same incident is hard for many people who are caught shoplifting to understand. Most are familiar with the criminal procedure: when you break the law, the police are called and you're arrested. You then are given a court date, are required to appear in front of a judge and, if found guilty, are sentenced. However, few shoplifters realize that they could also be pursued civilly. Whenever a person commits, or…