A ''quasi in rem'' legal action (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, ''"as if against a thing"'') is a

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

action based on property rights of a person absent from the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

. In the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

legal system the state can assert power over an individual simply based on the fact that this individual has property (

bank account A bank account is a financial account maintained by a bank or other financial institution in which the financial transactions between the bank and a customer are recorded. Each financial institution sets the terms and conditions for each type o ...

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

, share of stock,

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 ...

) in the state. ''Quasi in rem'' jurisdiction does not have much function in the United States any longer. However, in very specific cases, quasi in rem jurisdiction can still be effective. A ''quasi in rem'' action is commonly used when jurisdiction over the defendant is unobtainable due to their absence from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. Any judgment will affect only the

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

seized, as ''

in personam ''In personam'' is a Latin phrase meaning "against a particular person". In a lawsuit in which the case is against a specific individual, that person must be served with a summons and complaint (E&W known as Particulars of Claim (CPR 1999) to give ...

'' jurisdiction is unobtainable. Of note, in a ''quasi in rem'' case the court may lack

personal jurisdiction Personal jurisdiction is a court's jurisdiction over the ''parties'', as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the ''law'' involved in the ...

over the

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

, but it has jurisdiction over the defendant's property. The property could be seized to obtain a claim against the defendant. A judgment based on ''quasi in rem'' jurisdiction generally affects rights to the property only between the persons involved and does not "bind the entire world" as does a judgment based on "''

jurisdiction in rem ''In rem'' jurisdiction ("power about or against 'the thing) is a legal term describing the power a court may exercise over property (either real or personal) or a "status" against a person over whom the court does not have ''in personam'' jurisdi ...

''". The claim does not have to be related to the property seized, but the person must have

minimum contact Minimum contacts is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to determine when it is appropriate for a court in one state to assert personal jurisdiction over a defendant from another state. The United States Supreme Court has decid ...

s with the forum state in order for jurisdiction to be proper.Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186, 97 S. Ct. 2569, 53 L. Ed. 2d 683 (1977). On June 24, 1977, in the case of ''

Shaffer v. Heitner ''Shaffer v. Heitner'', 433 U.S. 186 (1977), is a United States corporate law case in which the Supreme Court of the United States established that a defendant's ownership of stock in a corporation incorporated within a state, without more, is ins ...

'', 433 U.S. 186, the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decided that the requirement that the circumstances giving rise to jurisdiction comply with the notion of "fair play and substantial justice" should apply to the ''quasi in rem'' jurisdiction questions. The Supreme Court significantly diminished the utility of the ''quasi in rem'' jurisdiction because if the case meets the minimum contacts, fair play and substantial justice tests, the action can be brought under the ''

'' jurisdiction. ''Quasi in rem'' jurisdiction, however, can still be an effective option to bring the lawsuit to a particular court because ''quasi in rem'' jurisdiction allows litigants to overcome limitations of the

long-arm statute Long-arm jurisdiction is the ability of local courts to exercise jurisdiction over foreign ("foreign" meaning out of jurisdiction, whether a state, province, or nation) defendants, whether on a statutory basis or through a court's inherent jurisdi ...

of a particular state. There are two types of ''quasi in rem'' jurisdiction: 1) ''quasi in rem'' type 1 (QIM1); and 2) ''quasi in rem'' type 2 (QIM2). In QIM1, a plaintiff sues to secure a pre-existing claim in the subject property. For example, actions that seek

quiet title Quiet may refer to: * Silence, a relative or total lack of sound In music * The Quiett (born 1985), South Korean rapper * ''Quiet'' (album), a 1996 John Scofield album * "Quiet", a song by Lights, from her album '' The Listening'' (2009) * "Qui ...

against another's claim to the property. In QIM2, the plaintiff has no pre-existing claim in the subject property. That is, the property rights of the owner are not in dispute, but rather the plaintiff seeks the property so that they may satisfy a separate claim. For example, a person who walks across another's real property and falls into an open pit might have no pre-existing claim regarding the property, but may initiate a QIM2 action to redress his injury.

References

External links

Legal Information Institute – quasi in rem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quasi In Rem Jurisdiction Latin legal terminology Civil procedure