In law, conversion is a tort that deals with the wrongful interference with goods. Conversion involves dealing with a chattel in a manner repugnant to a person's immediate right of possession. The gist of the action is a denial of the plaintiff's dominion over the goods.

The plaintiff must been in actual possession or have an immediate right to possession at the time of the wrong. Absolute ownership is not required.

Both tangible items and intangible property can be the subject of a claim for conversion. When the domain name sex.com was wrongfully transferred to a con man, a claim for conversion was held to be available against the domain name registrar.

Stealing something from someone else is one form of conversion. However, conversion is not limited to theft: conversion can also be accomplished by moving, transferring, discarding, hiding, vandalizing, or destroying another person's chattel. Merely using another person's chattel can be grounds for conversion in certain cases.

Remedy for conversion is usually in the form of damages equal to the value of the chattel. The converter can return possession of the chattel to the complainant, but this is usually not required and can only be accepted in lieu of damages if the complainant agrees. If the complainant wants the chattel returned without any additional monetary damages, they can claim a related tort, detinue.

Conversion and other offenses

Conversion overlaps with the tort of trespass to chattels: the primary difference between the two is that trespass requires only an inteference with the plaintiff's possession. The interference must have intentionally damaged "the chattel, deprive the possessor of its use for a substantial period of time, or totally disposses the chattel from the victim." (Restatement 217, 218)

Additionally, damages from a trespass claim are based on the harm caused to the plaintiff, rather than the value of the chattel. Many actions can constitute both conversion and trespass. In these cases, a plaintiff must choose which claim to press based on what damages they seek to recover. It is the difference between forcing a rental fee and a total sale upon a defendant.

Tort law | Personal property law