(a) Any person who, with intent to defraud the owner of any motor vehicle or a person in lawful possession of the motor vehicle, obtains possession of the vehicle from the owner, or the servant, agents or employees of the owner, by agreeing in writing, to pay a rental for use of the vehicle based in whole or part on the distance the vehicle is driven, commits a Class E felony.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-5-104

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Obtaining possession of the vehicle by means of trick, false or fraudulent misrepresentation, or false impersonation of another, or by giving a bad or worthless check as a deposit or in payment of the rental, in obtaining possession of the vehicle, shall be prima facie evidence of intent to defraud.
(c) Any person who, after hiring, leasing or renting a motor vehicle under an agreement in writing, which provides for return of the vehicle to a particular place, or at a particular time, abandons this vehicle, or refuses or willfully neglects to return the vehicle to the place and at the time specified in the agreement, or who secretes, converts, sells or attempts to sell the motor vehicle, or any part of the motor vehicle, commits a Class E felony.
(d) The failure, or refusal, or neglect to return the vehicle within seventy-two (72) hours subsequent to the date or time specified in the written agreement shall be prima facie evidence of willful intent to violate this section; provided, that failure, refusal or neglect to return the vehicle within the seventy-two-hour period shall not be evidence of willful intent if the person provides written notification to the owner within the seventy-two-hour period of the person’s intention to return the vehicle and returns the vehicle within twenty-four (24) hours of the notification, or when agreed upon by the owner and the person, and if the person pays the fair rental value for the vehicle.
(e) A violation of this section is a Class E felony.
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