Section 17.5 Demand for Return

• Library: Tort Law 2016

3. (§17.5) Demand for Return

Demand for the return of the property is necessary only when:

· an innocent bailee has possession of the goods; or

· a person in lawful possession initially is to have his or her right to possession terminated.

When the defendant has tortiously taken the goods or has used them or appropriated them to the defendant’s use, conversion is shown by those facts in and of themselves. But when there is no tortious taking or use of the goods, there is no evidence of conversion until it is shown that there was, first, a proper demand by a person entitled to possession and, second, a wrongful refusal of delivery. Thus, it would appear that an innocent bailee is free from liability unless the owner asserts a permanent right to possession and makes a sufficient demand for the goods before delivery back to the bailor.

In Amond v. Ron York & Sons Towing, 302 S.W.3d 708 (Mo. App. E.D. 2009), law enforcement officials authorized a towing company to tow the plaintiff’s vehicle. When the plaintiff went to the towing company to pay the tow and storage fees in order to redeem her vehicle, the towing company refused to accept...