Cal Pen Code § 484 (2004)
§ 484. What constitutes theft; Determination of value of property;
Presumptions
(a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, carry, lead,
or drive away the personal property of another, or who shall fraudulently
appropriate property which has been entrusted to him or her, or who shall
knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or
pretense, defraud any other person of money, labor or real or personal
property, or who causes or procures others to report falsely of his or her
wealth or mercantile character and by thus imposing upon any person, obtains
credit and thereby fraudulently gets or obtains possession of money, or
property or obtains the labor or service of another, is guilty of theft. In
determining the value of the property obtained, for the purposes of this
section, the reasonable and fair market value shall be the test, and in
determining the value of services received the contract price shall be the
test. If there be no contract price, the reasonable and going wage for the
service rendered shall govern. For the purposes of this section, any false or
fraudulent representation or pretense made shall be treated as continuing, so
as to cover any money, property or service received as a result thereof, and
the complaint, information or indictment may charge that the crime was
committed on any date during the particular period in question. The hiring of
any additional employee or employees without advising each of them of every
labor claim due and unpaid and every judgment that the employer has been unable
to meet shall be prima facie evidence of intent to defraud.
(b)(1) Except as provided in Section
10855 of the Vehicle Code, where a person has leased or rented the
personal property of another person pursuant to a written contract, and that
property has a value greater than one thousand dollars ($ 1,000) and is not a
commonly used household item, intent to commit theft by fraud shall be
rebuttably presumed if the person fails to return the personal property to its
owner within 10 days after the owner has made written demand by certified or
registered mail following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement for
return of the property so leased or rented.
(2) Except as provided in Section
10855 of the Vehicle Code, where a person has leased or rented the
personal property of another person pursuant to a written contract, and where
the property has a value no greater than one thousand dollars ($ 1,000), or
where the property is a commonly used household item, intent to commit theft by
fraud shall be rebuttably presumed if the person fails to return the personal
property to its owner within 20 days after the owner has made written demand by
certified or registered mail following the expiration of the lease or rental
agreement for return of the property so leased or rented.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (b), if one
presents with criminal intent identification which bears a false or fictitious
name or address for the purpose of obtaining the lease or rental of the
personal property of another, the presumption created herein shall apply upon
the failure of the lessee to return the rental property at the expiration of
the lease or rental agreement, and no written demand for the return of the
leased or rented property shall be required.
(d) The presumptions created by subdivisions (b) and (c) are
presumptions affecting the burden of producing evidence.
(e) Within 30 days after the lease or rental agreement has
expired, the owner shall make written demand for return of the property so
leased or rented. Notice addressed and mailed to the lessee or renter at the
address given at the time of the making of the lease or rental agreement and to
any other known address shall constitute proper demand. Where the owner fails
to make such written demand the presumption created by subdivision (b) shall
not apply.