645.3 - LIABILITY. - Iowa Statutes

645.3 LIABILITY. 1. A person who knowingly and without claim of right wrongfully appropriates, takes possession of, or alters the price indicia of merchandise of a mercantile establishment without the consent of the owner and with the intent to convert the merchandise to the person's own use without having paid the full purchase price for it, is liable for: a. The return of the merchandise or the purchase price of the merchandise, provided that the merchandise is not evidence in a criminal proceeding under chapter 714. b. Actual damages for any decrease in value of the merchandise returned. c. The greater of fifty dollars or actual costs, not to exceed two hundred dollars, incurred by the owner in recovering the merchandise or damages pursuant to this chapter. 2. Damages awarded under this section shall be reduced by any amount received by the owner pursuant to court ordered restitution under chapter 232A or 910. 3. The parent or parents of an unemancipated minor child under the age of eighteen years are liable for any judgment awarded against the child pursuant to subsection 1 in accordance with, and subject to the limits established in, section 613.16.          Section History: Recent Form 89 Acts, ch 99, § 3