Editing Larceny (section)

===Personal property===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2008}}
From its creation<ref>Larceny is a common law offense. The definition of the crime, its elements, evolved into its present form by the end of the thirteenth century.</ref> the subject matter of larceny has been tangible personal property,<ref>For example, one can steal a person's social security card and use the information to obtain a credit card and make transactions.  However, using the social security number is not larceny because the information, although of substantial value, is not tangible personal property. The theft of the card itself is larceny but that would only be a misdemeanor given the minimal value of the paper used to print the card.</ref> with a physical existence: items that can be seen, held, and felt (or in technical terms, property that has a "corporeal existence").<ref>[[Joshua Dressler]], ''Understanding Criminal Law'', 3rd ed. (Lexis 2001) {{ISBN|0-8205-5027-2}} at 556.</ref>

This limitation means that acts of common law larceny cannot be committed against [[Real property|land]]<ref>4 Blackstone at 232</ref> or items attached to or forming part of land, such as buildings, [[tree]]s or [[shrub]]bery, crops growing in the field, or [[mineral]]s.<ref name="Joshua Dressler 2001"/> Acts of common law larceny cannot be committed against intangible things, such as [[Alienation of affections|love or affection]], identity ([[identity theft]] is a type of [[fraud]]), or [[intellectual property]], such as information and ideas. For example, if a person stole the [[Coca-Cola formula]], the crime would be larceny, but the grade of the offense would be determined by the value of the paper on which the formula was recorded, not the value of the recipe. (Theft of [[trade secret]]s would be a different offense.)<ref>See Singer & LaFond, ''Criminal Law: Examples and Explanations'', 4th ed. Aspen (2005) 256.</ref>

Services and labor, as well as intangible personal property (incorporeal rights)<ref name="Joshua Dressler 2001"/> such as [[contract]] rights and [[Chose|choses in action]];<ref>Singer & LaFond, ''Criminal Law'' (Aspen 1987), at 256.</ref> [[Will (law)|wills]], [[Codicil (will)|codicils]], or other testamentary documents; wild animals;<ref name="Joshua Dressler 2001"/> and items having no economic value<ref>Boyce & Perkins, ''Criminal Law'', 3rd ed. (1992) {{ISBN|0-88277-067-5}}</ref> cannot be the subjects of acts of common-law larceny.

Most states have enacted statutes to expand the coverage of larceny to include most if not all of the items mentioned above.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} For example, North Carolina has statutes that make it a crime to steal choses in action, growing crops and so on.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-70 through 14-86.3.</ref>

The restriction of the scope of larceny to personal property may have practical consequences. For example, a person may "steal" a central air conditioning unit by cutting the connections to the house, removing the unit from its concrete pad and hauling the disconnected unit away in a truck. In most jurisdictions, a central air conditioning unit changes from personal property to real property (a fixture) once it is attached to a building. Modernly, severance of a fixture from the realty would convert the fixture from real property back to personal property. However, the common law stated that if the severance and carrying away of a fixture were one continuous act, no larceny would occur. The defendant's actions in this example would thus merely constitute damage to real property, and would further not result in possession of stolen property since no larceny had taken place. However, if the person disconnected the air conditioner, left the premises to find someone to help him move the unit, returned and loaded the unit on his truck and left, the crime would be larceny.{{cn|date=July 2022}}