Theft by Deception Committed when Buyer Obtains Vehicle by Misrepresenting Himself and Paying for Vehicle with Fraudulent Check
In Crackel v. State Farm Insurance Company, David Crackel and Anthony Crackel (“Crackel”) filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against defendant, State Farm Insurance Company (“State Farm”), seeking compensation from an insurance policy issued by State Farm for the loss of their vehicle. Crackel had advertised his vehicle on Auto Trader, and Kevin Northington (“Northington”) contacted Crackel concerning the purchase of the vehicle. After Crackel and Northington met in person, Northington took the vehicle for a test drive and personally inspected it, after which Northington made an offer of $10,500 to purchase the vehicle. Crackel accepted the offer. After Crackel accepted Northington’s offer, he prepared duplicate originals of a bill of sale that documented the sale of his vehicle to Northington. Crackel and Northington each completed and signed portions of the bill of sale, with Crackel signing the bill of sale as the seller. After signing the bill of sale, Crackel gave all of the vehicle’s keys to Northington and allowed him to take possession of the vehicle. In return, Crackel accepted a cashier’s check in the amount of $10,500. However, when Crackel attempted to deposit the cashier’s check, his bank informed him that the check was a counterfeit and was fraudulent.
Crackel alleges that State Farm is obligated to compensate him for his loss of vehicle pursuant to the terms of the insurance policy.
The court reviewed whether State Farm is liable for the loss of the car when the insured voluntarily relinquished possession.
Under Illinois law, theft occurs when someone knowingly obtains or exerts unauthorized control over property of the owner or obtains by deception control over property of the owner. A person commits theft by deception when he knowingly obtains by deception control over the property of the owner and plans to permanently deprive the owner of the use or benefit of the property.
In this case, Northington committed a theft by deception, as he obtained control of Crackel’s vehicle by misrepresenting who he was and paying for the vehicle with a fraudulent check. State Farm’s insurance policy explicitly states that it will pay for a loss to a covered vehicle and defines a loss as a partial or total theft of the vehicle. Accordingly, because the loss of vehicle was a result of a theft, it should be covered by the insurance policy.
Crackel v. State Farm Ins. Co., 2014 IL App (5th) 130366.
