Opinion ID: 39696
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Conversion of Intangible and Tangible Property

Text: 48 Next, Harrell Equipment asserts that the district court erred in failing to determine that it demonstrated a genuine issue of material fact regarding its claim of conversion. In Georgia, in order to establish a claim for conversion, the complaining party must show (1) title to the property or the right of possession, (2) actual possession in the other party, (3) demand for return of the property, and (4) refusal by the other party to return the property. Metzger v. Americredit Fin. Serv., Inc., 273 Ga.App. 453, 615 S.E.2d 120, 122 (2005). Specifically, Harrell Equipment claims that it provided evidence that SunTrust converted its intangible property rights. To better articulate this legal premise, Harrell Equipment cites Decatur Auto Center, Inc. v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 276 Ga. 817, 583 S.E.2d 6 (2003), in which an auto dealership ordered its bank to stop payment on a check. Id. Instead, the bank in that case paid the payee listed on the check and the dealership subsequently sued the bank for converting the value of the check on which the stop payment was ordered. In its holding, the Georgia Supreme Court determined that the dealership was entitled to damages because the bank's conversion of the document included the conversion of all the intangible rights associated with that document. Id. at 8. Therefore, the court said that by converting the check, the bank converted the funds associated with the check. Id. 49 We find Decatur inapposite. For example, in Decatur, the parties were dealing with a written document; here we have no document. Further, though we believe it is logical to associate funds as the direct extension of a check, we find it illogical to associate the intangible property rights Harrell Equipment alleges SunTrust converted, (1) tax identity; (2) business identity; (3) mail; (4) contract rights; (5) the right to file for Chapter 11 protection; and (6) the right to operate its own business affairs prior to foreclosure, with the sort of property rights that are customarily integrated in a lease agreement. In other words, we recognize that when one signs a check, the account to which that check pertains will be affected; but this concept does not explain how a lease agreement (and an oral one at that), affects rights ranging from filing for bankruptcy to tax identity. Harrell Equipment's reliance on Decatur is, therefore, misplaced. 50 Furthermore, in discussing its conversion claim regarding its tangible property rights without the frills of Decatur, Harrell Equipment's only argument seems to be that the lease agreement regarding the Vada, Georgia facility is a sham, since SunTrust never paid rent to Harrell Equipment. Alternatively, SunTrust claims and the record reveals, that the rent it owed Harrell Equipment was offset against Harrell Equipment's existing debt owed to SunTrust. Furthermore, even if Harrell Equipment had alleged sufficient facts to suggest conversion, there is no evidence in the record that Harrell Equipment demanded SunTrust return the property claimed to be converted, as required by Georgia law. See Bryant v. Carver, 207 Ga.App. 659, 428 S.E.2d 621, 623 (1993) (explaining that, in Georgia, for a plaintiff to be successful in an action for conversion he must show that he has the right of possession of the converted assets and that he demanded the converted assets be returned). For these reasons, we find that Harrell Equipment's conversion claim surrounding the lease must also fail.