Laws are inconsistent and don't always make sense. My guess is they consider someone who actively chooses to go into a restaurant with the intention of not paying is more of a thief. Everyone needs a place to live (homelessness is de facto illegal in many respects) and failure to pay your rent or mortgage seems both more sympathetic (on the surface at least) and passive, because it may be due to circumstances beyond your control (loss of income, health problems, etc).
One is theft of product and the other is failure to meet contractual obligations
Here’s my not-a-lawyer opinion:
If you refuse to pay rent, you are breaching a contract that you signed, which is not considered criminal (ever, afaik).
Ordering food at a restaurant probably doesn’t count as a contract, so it’s just regular theft (which is criminal).
It could have to do with the transfer of property vs. services. When you don't pay at a restaurant you're stealing property (food). Rent is a service, the landlord doesn't lose property if you don't pay rent.
Utility bills and rent and such are also contract disputes, there's no contract involved with a restaurant.
Or its down to intent. If it could be proven that you had no intention to pay a bill, that's probably criminal fraud. Conversely, if you're at a restaurant, refuse to pay and argue that service was inadequete, that'd be a civil issue.
Just spitballing here.
Not a lawyer, but public utilities operate under civil oversight, usually a state or.county board of public utilities. The matters are civil in party because public utilities are usually necessities-- heat during cold snaps, water and power during heat waves, etc. The utilities are obligated to provide the product, and receive special benefits for access to market with provisos that they can't just shut people off without due process. The "elderly lady on a pension" scenario. The public utilities can generally also write off losses.
Restaurants are entirely a luxury venture, where walking out of a bill amounts to theft of goods and services. You don't need to eat out to survive.
It's not consistent, but it is how the laws work.
Similarly: your employee steals from you and it's a crime. You don't pay your employee and they have to take you to court to get what you owe them.
One is stealing food, the other is breach of contract.
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