Mesne (pronounced "mean") 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 the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
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.
Principal elements of English law
Although the common law has, historically, be ...
(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 sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
.
Mesne profits commonly occur where a
landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...
has obtained an order from a court to
evict
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgage ...
a
tenant
Tenant may refer to:
Real estate
*Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate
*Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law
*Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate
*Tenant farmer
*Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...
, or where an individual sues to eject a ''
bona fide
In human interactions, good faith ( la, bona fides) 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 ...
'' 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 either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
to
land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...
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 (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. 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
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decisions, such as ''
Green v. Biddle
''Green v. Biddle'', 1 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 1 (1823), is a 6-to-1 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that the state of Virginia had properly entered into a compact with the United States federal government under Clause One of ...
'', 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, wh ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesne Profits
Profit
Real property law