Also known as: effet mobilier · effets mobilier · biens mobiliers · movable property · personalty
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Personal property consisting of items whose physical location can be changed. This category includes goods, chattels, funds, stocks, and documents even when the rights they represent lack a fixed physical site.
Evelyn Ellison, an assistant manager at a clothing boutique, secretly under-rings several designer handbags for a friend who then resells them online. She splits the proceeds with the friend. The handbags qualify as effets mobiliers because their location can be changed and they are tangible goods belonging to the store. Evelyn exercised unlawful control over the items with the purpose to deprive the owner, satisfying the elements of theft.
Ewan Eckhart discovers a trespasser loading his company's excavators onto a truck at a construction site. Believing the machines are in his possession, Ewan uses reasonable force to prevent the unlawful carrying away of the tangible movable property. The excavators are effets mobiliers whose location can be changed, allowing justifiable force to terminate the trespass under the governing standard.
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Ella Emerson purchases large quantities of seed and fertilizer at below-wholesale prices from a bookkeeper who diverted them from a rural cooperative. Ella resells the goods at a profit through her farm supply business. The seed and fertilizer constitute effets mobiliers, and Ella's knowing receipt and retention of the stolen movable property establishes theft liability.
Emmett Egan believes he was unlawfully dispossessed of his company's loaders by a contractor. He uses force on fresh pursuit to retake the tangible movable property. The loaders are effets mobiliers, and the immediate action satisfies the conditions for justifiable force to recover possession.
Elijah Edwards attempts to recapture his firm's electronic sensors after a delayed period following dispossession. Because the recaption is not made immediately or on fresh pursuit, force is not justifiable even though the sensors are effets mobiliers. The timing requirement bars the use of force under the rule.
Erika Echevarria's interstate trucking company has rigs seized at a weigh station on probable cause they carry contraband. The tractors and trailers are effets mobiliers that can be quickly moved or hidden. Due process permits the pre-hearing seizure of such movable property when prompt post-seizure procedures follow.
Movable property includes any item whose location can be changed, such as goods, equipment, and documents. Theft occurs when a person unlawfully takes or exercises control over such property of another with purpose to deprive the owner. This definition distinguishes movable items from immovable property like land, which is governed by a separate theft provision.
Due process permits pre-hearing seizure of movable property suspected of being stolen or subject to forfeiture when the items can be quickly removed, hidden, or destroyed. Prompt post-seizure notice and an opportunity to contest the action must still be provided. This flexibility applies because of the inherent risk that delay would frustrate enforcement interests.
No. When an employee exceeds the scope of authorized discounts by under-ringing merchandise for personal gain and sharing resale proceeds, the conduct constitutes unlawful control over the store's movable property with purpose to deprive. The partial payment through the register does not negate the unauthorized diversion of value.
…Court has rejected the suggestion that the probate decree of the State where decedent was domiciled has an in rem effect on personalty outside the forum State that could render it conclusive on the interests of nonresidents over whom there was no personal jurisdiction. Riley v. New York Trust Co., 315 U. S. 343, 353;…