In order to be charged with larceny, an individual must have prevented possession of an individual's personal property. In other words, the rightful owner is deprived of possession of their property due to the actions of the perpetrator. In fact, the owner of a property can be charged with stealing that property if it is in the legal possession of another. In some cases, the owner of a property is subject to a lien.
A lien is a legal judgement placed on property, usually in order to pay off a debt. Therefore, an owner of a car would be guilty of stealing that car if they took possession of that property from the lienholder. Even though the owner of the car has possession of the title of that vehicle, the lienholder is entitled to legal possession of that vehicle. In order for an individual to be charged with larceny, they must obtain possession of the property of another with the intent to deprive that person of their property on a permanent basis.
A person cannot be charged with stealing if there is no possession rights associated with an item. If, for example, an item was abandoned and an individual took possession rights of a piece of property, they are not guilty of stealing. If, however, they have reason to believe that the property is the personal property of another, they are guilty of stealing. The property must belong to another person in order for and individual to steal it. In other words, one cannot steal a piece of property that has no rightful owner.
Take, for example, a piece of furniture abandoned at a curb that is full with garbage. If an individual takes that piece of property, that are not guilty of stealing because the property was abandoned. If that same piece of furniture was located next to a moving van, an individual would make a reasonable assumption that someone has possession rights to that piece of furniture and they would have to steal it to get possession of it.
There are many elements required in a larceny charge. However, the most obvious requirement for an individual to be able to steal an item is that another person has possession rights of that property.
One cannot steal property if that property does not have a rightful owner or a person that has legitimate possession rights to that property. If a piece of property can be reasonably assumed to have been abandoned, then a person cannot be guilty of stealing it. If, however, it appears that a person may have lost it, then the finder should make attempts to reunite the property with the person that has possession rights of that property or they could be guilty of stealing.
