Mesne profits ( ) are sums of money paid for the occupation of land to a person with right of immediate occupation, where no permission has been given for that occupation.
[Farran, Sue and Paterson, Donald. ''South Pacific Property Law.'' Florence, Ky.: Routledge, 2004, p. 90.] The concept is
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
in origin, and common in countries which rely on the
English legal system
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. The judiciary is independent, and legal principles like fairness, equality befor ...
(including many former British colonies).
The word is derived from the root word
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...
.
Mesne profits commonly occur where a
landlord
A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...
has obtained an order from a court to
evict a
tenant, or where an individual sues to eject a ''
bona fide
In human interactions, good faith () is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case with , which is ...
'' landowner to whom
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
to
land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...
was improperly
conveyed. The mesne profit represents the value (living rent-free, profits earned from the land, etc.) the ejected tenant received from the property between the time the court ordered the eviction and the time when the tenant actually left the property. Mesne profits must be drawn from the land itself,
rather than improvements on it. For example, mesne profits may accrue from growing crops on land but would not generally accrue from a factory built on the land (unless there were damage to the land or improvements to the land itself such as the removal of stone from a field).
A
statute of limitations
A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
(usually six years) often limits the tenant-in-error's liability.
Calculating mesne profits is often regulated by statute, but may be litigated in a
court of equity
A court of equity, also known as an equity court or chancery court, is a court authorized to apply principles of Equity (law), equity rather than principles of law to cases brought before it. These courts originated from petitions to the Lord Cha ...
. Mesne profits may be calculated, even though there may be no point in doing so (as in the case where land was flooded by a dam, and the dam is not going to be removed).
[See, for example, ''Winchester v. Stevens Point'', 58 Wis. 350, 17 N.W. 3 (Wis.1883).] In the United States, laws regulating mesne profits have been the subject of
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decisions, such as ''
Green v. Biddle'', 21 U.S. 1 (1823).
See also
*
Housing tenure
Housing tenure is a financial arrangement and ownership structure under which someone has the right to live in a house or apartment. The most frequent forms are tenancy, in which rent is paid by the occupant to a landlord, and owner-occupancy, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesne Profits
Profit
Real property law