USA Statutes : washington
Title : Washington criminal code
Chapter : Theft and robbery
RCW 9A.56.096Theft of rental, leased, or lease-purchased property.(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 or leased to the person, is guilty of theft of rental, leased, or lease-purchased 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, or lease-purchase agreement; or  (b) That the renter or lessee 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, or lease-purchase period, mailed by certified or registered mail to the renter or lessee at: (a) The address the renter or lessee gave when the contract was made; or (b) the renter or lessee's last known address if later furnished in writing by the renter, lessee, or the agent of the renter or lessee.  (4) The replacement value of the property obtained must be utilized in determining the amount involved in the theft of rental, leased, or lease-purchased property.  (5)(a) Theft of rental, leased, or lease-purchased property is a class B felony if the rental, leased, or lease-purchased property is valued at one thousand five hundred dollars or more.  (b) Theft of rental, leased, or lease-purchased property is a class C felony if the rental, leased, or lease-purchased property is valued at two hundred fifty dollars or more but less than one thousand five hundred dollars.  (c) Theft of rental, leased, or lease-purchased property is a gross misdemeanor if the rental, leased, or lease-purchased property is valued at less than two hundred fifty dollars.  (6) 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, and to lease-purchase agreements as defined under RCW 63.19.010. This section does not apply to rental or leasing of real property under the residential landlord-tenant act, chapter 59.18 RCW.[2003 c 53 § 77; 1997 c 346 § 1.]Notes:Intent -- Effective date -- 2003 c 53: See notes following RCW 2.48.180. RCW 9A.56.220Theft of subscription television services.(1) A person is guilty of theft of subscription television services if, with intent to avoid payment of the lawful charge of a subscription television service, he or she:  (a) Obtains or attempts to obtain subscription television service from a subscription television service company by trick, artifice, deception, use of a device or decoder, or other fraudulent means without authority from the company providing the service;  (b) Assists or instructs a person in obtaining or attempting to obtain subscription television service without authority of the company providing the service;  (c) Makes or maintains a connection or connections, whether physical, electrical, mechanical, acoustical, or by other means, with cables, wires, components, or other devices used for the distribution of subscription television services without authority from the company providing the services;  (d) Makes or maintains a modification or alteration to a device installed with the authorization of a subscription television service company for the purpose of interception or receiving a program or other service carried by the company that the person is not authorized by the company to receive; or  (e) Possesses without authority a device designed in whole or in part to receive subscription television services offered for sale by the subscription television service company, regardless of whether the program or services are encoded, filtered, scrambled, or otherwise made unintelligible, or to perform or facilitate the performance of any other acts set out in (a) through (d) of this subsection for the reception of subscription television services without authority.  (2) Theft of subscription television services is a gross misdemeanor.[1995 c 92 § 2; 1989 c 11 § 1; 1985 c 430 § 1.]Notes:Severability -- 1989 c 11: "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [1989 c 11 § 33.]Severability -- 1985 c 430: "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [1985 c 430 § 7.] RCW 9A.56.260Connection of channel converter.No person may be charged with theft under RCW 9A.56.220 or subject to a civil cause of action under RCW 9A.56.250 for connecting a nondecoding or nondescrambling channel frequency converter, which includes cable-ready television sets, video recorders, or similar equipment, to a cable system.[1985 c 430 § 5.]Notes:Severability -- 1985 c 430: See note following RCW 9A.56.220.