How can we force the carpenter to return the antique or pay for the value of it?
Full Question:
Answer:
You may want to consider filing a civil suit against the refinisher/carpenter
for conversion. Conversion is when someone wrongfully uses property of
another for their own purposes or alters or destroys it. In an action for
conversion, the taking of the property may be lawful, but the retaining of the
property is unlawful. To succeed in the action, the plaintiff must prove that
he or she demanded the property returned and the defendant refused to do
so.
Damages may be recovered for the replacement value of the property as
well as for the loss of its use. Conversion is very similar to theft, but is a civil
action, not a criminal action. For example, when a mechanic wrongfully
refuses to return a car brought in for repairs, it the mechanic may be subject
to an action for conversion.