Theft of services is the legal term for a crime which is committed when a person obtains valuable services — as opposed to goods — by deception, force, threat or other unlawful means, i.e., without lawfully compensating the provider for these services. It may also overlap with some types of fraud in which payment is made on credit, but under an assumed identity, and ultimately disavowed ("

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...

").

Types

Crimes of this sort are typically prosecuted as

larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...

, and may be either a misdemeanor or a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

, based upon the value of the services illegally obtained. This category encompasses a wide variety of criminal activity including tampering with (or bypassing) a utility meter so that the true level of consumption is understated, leaving a hotel or restaurant or similar establishment without paying for the service and "

turnstile jumping Fare evasion or fare dodging, fare violation, rarely called ticket evasion, is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so). It is a problem in man ...

" or other methods of evading the payment of a fare or fee when using a public transit vehicle or entering a private facility normally requiring payment (e.g., jumping over the fence at a fair or concert). Theft of services also occurs in the taxi industry, when a passenger in a taxi flees from the taxi to avoid paying the fee. Another common form is using another entity's dumpster without their permission, as this creates an expense to the party paying for the service. Theft of this sort should not be confused with reasonable rejection, where, for example, a customer does not pay because the services provided were not as advertised or because the services did not meet reasonable standards of quality. For example, if a roofer installs a new roof, but the roof leaks, the customer might be able to withhold payment until the leak has been fixed. Withholding of payment without reason would be considered larceny. These statutes have also, on occasion, been applied in the realm of health care, when hospitals or other health care providers have pressed criminal charges against indigent, uninsured patients who were unable to pay for their treatment.{{cite news, last1=Lagnado, first1=Lucette, title=Hospitals Try Extreme Measures To Collect Their Overdue Debts, url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB106745941349180300, accessdate=14 August 2014, work=The Wall Street Journal, publisher=Dow Jones, date=October 30, 2003 This scenario has prompted intense criticism, and is a key issue in the call for a major overhaul of the health care system in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Types

References

See also