Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.003(a), 41.003, 134.005
Conversion in Texas — when money can be converted, and why it is pleaded with the Theft Liability Act
A claim in Texas district and county courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Conversion is the civil claim for someone taking your property and keeping it. The elements are old and stable; the two questions that decide modern cases are whether money can be the subject of the claim, and whether the plaintiff made a demand before suing.
The practical fact about conversion in Texas is what it does not pay. There are no attorney's fees, which is why the claim is nearly always filed alongside the Texas Theft Liability Act — and why doing that carries a risk of its own.
What the claim is
Someone took, kept, or used your personal property without authority, in a way that denied you the use of it.
Where the right comes from
Common law. The Texas Supreme Court's definition comes from Waisath v. Lack's Stores, Inc., 474 S.W.2d 444, 447 (Tex. 1971): "the unauthorized and wrongful assumption and exercise of dominion and control over the personal property of another, to the exclusion of, or inconsistent with the owner's rights."
What a plaintiff has to prove
- The plaintiff owned, possessed, or had the right to immediate possession of the property.
- The property was personal property — a chattel.
- The defendant wrongfully exercised dominion and control over it, to the exclusion of the plaintiff's rights.
- The plaintiff demanded its return — required where the defendant's original possession was lawful.
- The defendant refused.
Texas courts apply the Waisath definition rather than a single canonical numbered list from the Supreme Court, so element formulations vary slightly between courts of appeals.
Money and conversion
Money is personal property, but a general debt is not converted by being unpaid. Texas allows conversion of money only where it is a specific, identifiable fund — money delivered for safekeeping, held for a particular purpose, or segregated in a trust or escrow account.
"You owe me $40,000" is a contract claim. "You took the $40,000 I gave you to hold in escrow" can be conversion.
Real property cannot be converted
Land is not a chattel. A dispute about who owns real property goes to trespass to try title or a suit to quiet title.
How long you have to file
Two years under CPRC § 16.003(a), which names conversion of personal property expressly.
Accrual depends on how the defendant got the property. Where the taking was wrongful from the start, the claim accrues at the taking. Where possession began lawfully, it accrues when the defendant refuses a demand for return.
What has to happen before you file
A demand for return, where the defendant obtained the property lawfully — a mechanic holding a car, a warehouse holding goods, a former employee holding equipment. Without a demand and refusal, a lawful possessor has not converted anything.
No demand is needed where the taking itself was wrongful, or where a demand would plainly be futile.
What the claim pays
Fair market value at the time and place of the conversion, plus interest. Where the property has no market value, its intrinsic or actual value to the owner.
Loss of use, where the property is returned or where the deprivation was temporary.
The highest intervening value between conversion and a reasonable time to replace, where the property fluctuates in value and the conversion was fraudulent or wilful.
Exemplary damages for malicious conversion, on clear and convincing proof, capped by CPRC § 41.008.
No attorney's fees at common law.
Why it is pleaded with the Texas Theft Liability Act
CPRC § 134.005(b) awards court costs and reasonable and necessary attorney's fees to each person who prevails in a theft claim. Adding a Theft Liability Act count to a conversion petition is how Texas plaintiffs get fees on the same facts.
The risk is that the statute runs both ways. A plaintiff who loses the theft claim pays the defendant's fees, and the difference between conversion and theft is criminal intent — the intent to deprive the owner of the property. A defendant who sincerely believed it had a right to the property may defeat the theft claim while losing on conversion, and still collect its fees.
Common defenses
- Superior title or right to possession in the defendant.
- Consent or authorisation.
- A lawful privilege — a mechanic's lien, a storage lien, a landlord's contractual right.
- The property is money that is not a specific, identifiable fund.
- No demand where the possession began lawfully.
- The dispute is contractual, not tortious.
- Limitations.
What people get wrong
You cannot use conversion to collect a debt. Unpaid money is a contract claim. Conversion of money requires a specific fund the defendant was holding for you.
Conversion has no attorney's fees. The Theft Liability Act is the fee vehicle, and it is a two-way street.
Demand matters. If the defendant came by the property lawfully, the claim does not accrue — and may not exist — until you asked for it back and were refused.
Wrongful intent is not an element. A defendant who sincerely believed the property was theirs has still converted it. Intent matters for exemplary damages, not for liability.
Where it came from
Conversion descends from the common-law action of trover, which let an owner recover the value of goods "found" and kept by another. Texas inherited it whole, and Waisath in 1971 restated it in the form still quoted today.
The Legislature added the Texas Theft Liability Act in 1989, creating a civil remedy for conduct the Penal Code defines as theft and attaching a mandatory two-way fee award. The practical effect was to change how conversion is pleaded rather than what it means.
Common questions
How long do I have to sue for conversion in Texas?
Two years, from the taking or from the refusal of your demand where possession began lawfully.
Can I recover attorney's fees?
Not for conversion. Pleading the Texas Theft Liability Act alongside it can produce a fee award, but that statute's fees run to whoever prevails, including a defendant.
Can I sue for conversion of money?
Only where the money is a specific, identifiable fund — held in escrow, delivered for a particular purpose, or otherwise segregated. A general debt will not do.
Do I have to ask for my property back first?
Yes, if the defendant obtained it lawfully. A demand and refusal is what makes the possession wrongful.
Can I sue for conversion of land?
No. Conversion applies to personal property. Title disputes go to trespass to try title or a suit to quiet title.
What if they thought the property was theirs?
They can still be liable. A good-faith belief is not a defense to conversion, though it defeats exemplary damages and may defeat a Theft Liability Act claim.