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1. Defendant’s unauthorized act;
2. Deprives plaintiff of his or her property permanently or for an indefinite time; and
3. The deprivation is inconsistent with plaintiff’s ownership interest in the property.

See Form 1.939, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure (Forms for Use with Rules)

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1. Defendant’s unauthorized act;
2. Deprives plaintiff of his or her property permanently or for an indefinite time; and
3. The deprivation is inconsistent with plaintiff’s ownership interest in the property.

See Form 1.939, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure (Forms for Use with Rules)

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FLORIDA STATE COURTS

First District: Utah Power Sys., LLC v. Big Dog II, LLC, 352 So. 3d 504, 508 (Fla. 1st DCA 2022); Beach Cmty. Bank v. Disposal Services, LLC, 199 So.3d 1132, 1134 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016); Columbia Bank v. Turbeville, 143 So.3d 964, 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).

Second District: Spradley v. Spradley, 213 So.3d 1042, 1044 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017); Shelby Mut. Ins. Co., v. Crain Press Inc., 481 So. 2d 501, 503 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), rev. denied, 491 So. 2d 278 (1986).

Third District: Transway Airfreight Cargo, Inc. v. Biltagi, 2022 WL 1559922, *1 (Fla. 3d DCA May 18, 2022); Glover v. Vasallo, 314 So. 3d 447, 450 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020); Orozco v. McCormick 105, LLC, 276 So.3d 932, 935 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019).

Fourth District: Taubenfeld v. Lasko, 324 So.3d 529, 541-42 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2021); Point Conversions, LLC v. WPB Hotel Partners, LLC, 324 So.3d 947, 957 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2021); Palm Beach Florida Hotel v. Nantucket Enterprises, Inc., 211 So.3d 42, 45 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016).

Fifth District: Seymour v. Adams, 638 So. 2d 1044, 1046 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994).

FLORIDA FEDERAL COURTS

Eleventh Circuit: Regions Bank v. Kaplan, 2021 WL 4852268, *6 (11^th Cir. Oct. 19, 2021); Ranger v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., 757 F. App’x 896, 904-05 (11th Cir. 2018); Tatum v. SFN Grp., Inc., 698 Fed.Appx. 1000, 1008 (11th Cir. 2017).

Southern District: JONATHAN HARRINGTON, Plaintiff, v. VERITEXT, LLC, Defendant., No. 24-CV-22787, 2025 WL 1591614, at *7 (S.D. Fla. May 1, 2025); Behav. Analyst Certification Bd., Inc. v. Elvirez, 2023 WL 1812196, *6 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 8, 2023); eCapital Com. Fin. Corp. v. Hitachi Cap. Am. Corp., 2022 WL 1320405, *10 (S.D. Fla. May 2, 2022); ADJ 26, LLC v. Gigi, 2021 WL 6134811, *5 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 10, 2021).

Middle District: Restorative Care of Am., Inc. v. Josloff, No. 8:22-CV-1404-KKM-AEP, 2025 WL 974622, at *3 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 31, 2025); De Ford v. Koutoulas, 2023 WL 2709816, *16 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 30, 2023); Kaplan v. Regions Bank, 2023 WL 2610155, *8 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 23, 2023); Cain & Bultman, Inc. v. Evolutions Flooring, Inc., 2022 WL 19298813, *5 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 15, 2022).

Northern District: Fairmarkit, Inc. v. Whaley, 2023 WL 2924462, *2 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 6, 2023); Sport & Wheat, CPA, PA v. ServisFirst Bank, Inc., 479 F.Supp.3d 1247, 1253 (N.D. Fla. 2020); Mills v. Innovative Energy Global, Ltd., No. 3:09cv294–MCR/CJK, 2011 WL 1299938, at *11 (N.D. Fla. March 31, 2011).

FLORIDA RULES

Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.939 (complaint for conversion)

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2 Defenses to Claim for Conversion

(1) Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(d) (pleading affirmative defenses), and other standard defenses. See § 1.

(2) Statute of Limitations: § 95.11(3)(h), Fla. Stat. (four years); see Small Business Admin. v. Echevarria, 864 F. Supp. 1254, 1260 (S.D. Fla. 1994); Bobo’s Drugs, Inc. v. Fagron, Inc., 314 F.Supp.3d 1240, 1243 (M.D. Fla. 2018). 

(3) Breach of contract or other obligation to pay money does not, without more, give rise to conversion claim. See Misabec Mercantile Inc. de Panama v. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette ACLI Futures, Inc., 853 F.2d 834, 837 (11th Cir. 1988); Transcapital Bank v. Shadowbrook at Vero, LLC, 226 So.3d 856, 864 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017).

(4) “The generally accepted rule is that demand and refusal are unnecessary where the act complained of amounts to a conversion regardless of whether a demand is made . . . . while a demand and refusal constitute evidence a conversion has occurred, it is unnecessary to prove a demand and refusal where the conversion can be otherwise shown. ” Hodges v. Harrison, 372 F.Supp.3d 1342, 1351-52 (S.D. Fla. 2019)(quoting IberiaBank v. Coconut 41, LLC, 984 F.Supp.2d 1283, 1308 (M.D. Fla. 2013)); Orozco v. McCormick 105, LLC, 276 So. 3d 932, 935 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019); see also Columbia Bank v. Turbeville, 143 So.3d 964, 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (holding dismissal with prejudice based on failure to demonstrate demand and refusal was in error where the facts alleged would otherwise establish a conversion had occurred).

(5) Conversion cannot be based on taking of “fungible” money that is not capable of specific identification. See Florida Dept. Ins. v. Debenture Guaranty, 921 F. Supp. 750, 757 (M.D. Fla. 1996); Transcapital Bank v. Shadowbrook at Vero, LLC, 226 So.3d 856, 864 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017); JONATHAN HARRINGTON, Plaintiff, v. VERITEXT, LLC, Defendant., No. 24-CV-22787, 2025 WL 1591614, at *16 (S.D. Fla. May 1, 2025).

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(6) Plaintiff does not own, or possess rights to, the property in question. See Page v. Matthews, 386 So.2d 815, 816 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980); See also Catano v. Capuano, No. 18-20223-Civ-TORRES, 2020 WL 639406, at *11 (S.D. Fla. February 11, 2020) (explaining a future interest does not equate to a possessory right over the property in question).

(7) Plaintiff consented to defendant’s possession of the allegedly converted property. See National Bank of Melbourne & Trust Co. v. Batchelor, 266 So. 2d 185, 187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972); Premier Gaming Trailers, LLC v. Luna Diversified Enterprises, Inc., No. 8:16–cv–3378–T–33TGW, 2018 WL 2238060, at *3 (M.D. Fla. May 16, 2018).

(8) Real property cannot be the subject of an action for conversion. See Palm Beach Florida Hotel v. Nantucket Enterprises, Inc., 211 So.3d 42, 45 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016); American Intern. Land Corp. v. Hanna, 323 So.3d 567, 569 (Fla. 1975).

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