If you rent a TV, and move without returning it, you can be charged with hindering secured creditors. Likewise, if you rent a car, and fail to give it back to the rental car company you can also be arrested for hindering secured creditors. Basically, if you obtain property in which someone else has a security interest, and you fail to return it, you can be arrested and charged with the crime of hindering secured creditors. The seriousness of a given allegation of hindering secured creditors is determined by the value of the item alleged to be involved.
If the item is valued at $20 or less, hindering secured creditors is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine only of up to $500. However, if its value is greater than $200,000, you could be charged with a 1st degree felony, with a penalty range of 5 to 99 years, or life, in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. For a complete breakdown of the various penalties, please see the statute set forth, below.
Texas Penal Code Section 32.33 Hindering Secured Creditors
(a) For purposes of this section: (1) “Remove” means transport, without the effective consent of the secured party, from the state in which the property was located when the security interest or lien attached. (2) “Security interest” means an interest in personal property or fixtures that secures payment or performance of an obligation.
(b) A person who has signed a security agreement creating a security interest in property or a mortgage or deed of trust creating a lien on property commits an offense if, with intent to hinder enforcement of that interest or lien, he destroys, removes, conceals, encumbers, or otherwise harms or reduces the value of the property.
(c) For purposes of this section, a person is presumed to have intended to hinder enforcement of the security interest or lien if, when any part of the debt secured by the security interest or lien was due, he failed: (1) to pay the part then due; and (2) if the secured party had made demand, to deliver possession of the secured property to the secured party.
(d) An offense under Subsection (b) is a: (1) Class C misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is less than $20; (2) Class B misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $20 or more but less than $500; (3) Class A misdemeanor if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $500 or more but less than $1,500;
(4) state jail felony if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000; (5) felony of the third degree if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000; (6) felony of the second degree if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value is $100,000 or more but less than $200,000; or (7) felony of the first degree, if the value of the property destroyed, removed, concealed, encumbered, or otherwise harmed or reduced in value, is $200,000 or more.
A Person Who is a Debtor Under a Security Agreement
(e) A person who is a debtor under a security agreement, and who does not have a right to sell or dispose of the secured property or is required to account to the secured party for the proceeds of a permitted sale or disposition, commits an offense if the person sells or otherwise disposes of the secured property, or does not account to the secured party for the proceeds of a sale or other disposition as required, with intent to appropriate (as defined in Chapter 31) the proceeds or value of the secured property.
A person is presumed to have intended to appropriate proceeds if the person does not deliver the proceeds to the secured party or account to the secured party for the proceeds before the 11th day after the day that the secured party makes a lawful demand for the proceeds or account. An offense under this subsection is: (1) a Class C misdemeanor if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of less than $20; (2) a Class B misdemeanor if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of $20 or more but less than $500;
(3) a Class A misdemeanor if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of $500 or more but less than $1,500; (4) a state jail felony if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of $1,500 or more but less than $20,000; (5) a felony of the third degree if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of $20,000 or more but less than $100,000;
(6) a felony of the second degree if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of $100,000 or more but less than $200,000; or (7) a felony of the first degree if the proceeds obtained from the sale or other disposition are money or goods having a value of $200,000 or more. Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 501, ch. 232, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1979; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 914, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
Related Pages:
Locations We Service: Addison,Balch Springs,Carrollton,Cockrell Hill, Coppell, Dallas County, Desoto, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Garland, Highland Park, Irving , Lancaster, Mesquite, Richardson, Rowlett, Seagoville, Sunnyvale, University Park,Allen, Collin County, Frisco, Plano