West Virginia Code § 61-3-32

Removal out of county of property securing claim; penalties; fraudulent
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disposition of personal property in possession by virtue of lease; notice to return;
failure to return; penalty; right to immediate possession.
(a) Any debtor under any security instrument conveying personal property, who retains
possession of such personal property, and who, without the consent of the owner of the
claim secured by such security instrument, and with intent to defraud, remoeves or causes to
be removed any of the property securing such claim out of the county where it is situated at
the time it became security for such claim or out of a county to which itr was removed by
virtue of a former consent of the owner of the claim under this section, or, with intent to
defraud, secretes or sells the same, or converts the same to his own use, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $500, or imprisoned not
more than six months, or both, in the discretion of the court.t
(b) Any person in possession or control of any personal property by virtue of or subject to a
written lease who, with intent to defraud and without written consent of the owner, disposes
of such property by sale or transfer, or, after receiving a written notice to return the
property or otherwise make the property avaislable to the lessor, secretes or converts such
property to his own use and in so doing places the property in a location other than the
locations described in the written lease, or removes or causes to be removed such property
from the state shall be deemed guilty of the larceny of such property.
In any prosecution under the perovisions of this subsection, written notice may be mailed by
certified mail, addressed to the consumer at the address of the consumer stated in the lease,
and served on the consuLmer within ten days of the expiration of the lease, which notice shall
state that the lease has expired and that consumer has ten days from receipt of such notice
to return the leased property. Proof that the consumer failed to return the property within
ten days of receiving such notice shall in any prosecution under this subsection constitute
prima facie evidence that the consumer intended to defraud the owner.
WhWenever the consumer is a resident of the county in which the lease was contracted, the
dealer, after written notice to the consumer within ten days after the expiration of the lease,
has the right to immediate possession of the leased property, without formal process to
secure return and possession of the leased property, if this can be done without breach of
the peace. The dealer is not liable to the consumer for any damages for any action taken that
is reasonable, necessary and incidental to the reclaiming or taking possession of the leased
property.

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