§ 165.00 Misapplication of property.\n 1. A person is guilty of misapplication of property when, knowingly\npossessing personal property of another pursuant to an agreement that\nthe same will be returned to the owner at a future time,\n (a) he loans, leases, pledges, pawns or otherwise encumbers such\nproperty without the consent of the owner thereof in such manner as to\ncreate a risk that the owner will not be able to recover it or will\nsuffer pecuniary loss; or\n (b) he intentionally refuses to return personal property valued in\nexcess of one hundred dollars to the owner pursuant to the terms of the\nrental agreement provided that the owner shall have made a written\ndemand for the return of such personal property in person or by\ncertified mail at an address indicated in the rental agreement and he\nintentionally refuses to return such personal property for a period of\nthirty days after such demand has been received or should reasonably\nhave been received by him. Such written demand shall state: (i) the date\nand time at which the personal property was to have been returned under\nthe rental agreement; (ii) that the owner does not consent to the\ncontinued withholding or retaining of such personal property and demands\nits return; and (iii) that the continued withholding or retaining of the\nproperty may constitute a class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up\nto one thousand dollars or by a sentence to a term of imprisonment for a\nperiod of up to one year or by both such fine and imprisonment.\n (c) as used in paragraph (b) of this subdivision and in subdivision\nthree of this section, the terms owner, personal property, and rental\nagreement shall be defined as in subdivision one of section three\nhundred ninety-nine-w of the general business law.\n 2. In any prosecution under paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this\nsection, it is a defense that, at the time the prosecution was\ncommenced, (a) the defendant had recovered possession of the property,\nunencumbered as a result of the unlawful disposition, and (b) the owner\nhad suffered no material economic loss as a result of the unlawful\ndisposition.\n 3. In any prosecution under paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this\nsection, it is a defense that at the time the prosecution was commenced,\n(a) the owner had recovered possession of the personal property and\nsuffered no material economic loss as a result of the unlawful\nretention; or (b) the defendant is unable to return such personal\nproperty because it has been accidentally destroyed or stolen; or (c)\nthe owner failed to comply with the provisions of section three hundred\nninety-nine-w of the general business law.\n Misapplication of property is a class A misdemeanor.\n
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