Trespass

A possessor without title can lease land to a tenant

/ Leaseholds, Real Estate Transactions, Title Issues, Trespass

The Alabama Supreme held that a possessor of land can lease it to another and that the lease is enforceable against by the tenant. Hembree Ins. Tr. V. Maple Indus., Inc., 2025 WL 1085479 (Ala. 2025). The lease in this case said that a lease in the name of an individual is valid even though the property was actually owned by a limited liability company (an LLC) owned by the individual. The court noted that “a party need not be the owner of a property to lease it to another. While the right to let property is an incident of the title and possession, a lessor may validly lease property to another, despite the fact that the title to the property is in a third person, if the lessor lawfully possesses the property.” This is arguably an application of the doctrine of relativity of title, which holds that a peaceable …

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Police damage to house not compensable under the takings clause

/ Takings, Trespass

In an upsetting but not surprising decision, the Sixth Circuit has held that damage to property caused by police in the course of their duties, including finding and apprehending those who committed or are suspected of having committed a crime, is not compensable as a “taking” of property within the meaning of the Takings Clause of the US Constitution. Slaybaugh v. Rutherford Cnty., 2024 WL 4020769 (6th Cir. 2024). In this case, a mother and son were in her house and she could not convince him to give himself up to the police. She exited the home and they fired 35 tear gas cannisters into the home, causing $70,000 of damage to the house and the contents inside. The insurance company would not cover the loss because it was “self-inflicted” and the owner’s suit against the city failed because the longstanding rule is that the police cannot be hampered in …

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Tribe is awarded $400 million in trespass damages against a railroad company that exceeded the scope of an express easement

/ Trespass, Tribal Property

A federal court in Washington has awarded damages of $400 million to The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to be paid by a railroad company (BNSF Railway Company) for knowingly exceeding the scope of a railroad easement on the tribe’s property. Swinomish Indian Tribal Cmty. v. BNSF Rwy. Co., 2024 WL 3027911, 2024 US. Dist. LEXIS 107314 (W.D. Wash. 2024). Federal common law governs a claim for trespass on Indian lands. The railroad company breached its easement agreement by unilaterally increasing the number of trains and the number of cars crossing tribal land without the tribe’s written consent. The court had found that the railroad company breached a right-of-way easement agreement with the tribe, and that the trespass was “willful, conscious, and knowing throughout the trespass period.” Swinomish Indian Tribal Cmty. v. BNSF Rwy. Co., 664 F.Supp.3d 1218 (W.D. Wash. 2023). In the remedies phase, the court held that disgorgement of …

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Irrigation spray can ripen into a prescriptive easement

/ Adverse Possession, Easements, Trespass

In a somewhat surprising case, the Idaho Supreme Court has held that an irrigation system that oversprays to cover land and which intrudes onto neighboring property can  ripen into a prescriptive easement if the water sprays intrude on the neighbor’s land for the statutory period. Chester v. Wild Idaho Adventures RV Park, LLC, 519 P.3d 1152 (Idaho 2022).

Criminal trespass is proper even if the entrant did not see the sign denying access

/ Trespass

Normally, criminal trespass is proper only if someone knows they are on someone else’s land and have no permission or other right to be there. But Vermont allows prosecution for criminal trespass even when someone should have known they were not welcome, at least when the owner complies with state law by posting a sign prohibiting entrance. In such a case, it does not matter that the entrant was not aware of the sign. State v. Richards, 256 A.3d 94, 215 Vt. 1 (2021).

Criminal trespass to commit a hate crime against supporters of gay rights

/ Antidiscrimination Law, Trespass

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a person under a trespass statute criminalizes trespass with the intent to commit a hate crime, State v. Geddes, 998 N.W.2d 166 (Iowa 2023). See Iowa Code §716.8(3); §729A.2. The defendant targeted homes with rainbow flags or decals and taped anonymous notes saying “burn that gay flag”. The Court rejected the argument that the defendant had a first amendment right to place stickers on someone else’s home. The court found that the statute did not criminalize speech but conduct: trespassing because of the owner’s sexual orientation or association with persons of a certain sexual orientation.

Chemical manufacturer and seller may be liable for public nuisance and trespass when they know that chemical causes environmental harm but continue to sell it anyway

/ Nuisance, Trespass

The Delaware Supreme Court has held that Monsanto (the manufacturer and seller of PCBs) can be held liable for public nuisance and trespass when it knew PCBs caused environmental harm but continued to sell them anyway. State ex rel. Jennings v. Monsanto Co., 299 A.3d 372 (Del. 2023). While the trial court had held that Delaware did not recognize nuisance claims against product manufacturers or sellers, the supreme court reversed since the company had actively misled its customers and the public as to the dangerousness of the chemicals it was selling.

Eighth Amendment prohibits punishing homeless people for using bedding supplies like blankets, pillows, or sleeping bags while sleeping on public lands when there are no available shelter beds

/ Homelessness, Trespass

In a straightforward application of the ruling in Martin v. City of Boise, 902 F.3d 1031 (9th Cir. 2018), the Ninth Circuit held that an Oregon city could not punish homeless people for “camping” on public property and using bedding supplies, such as blankets or pillows or sleeping bags, while doing so, when there were no available beds in city homeless shelters. Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, 50 F.4th 868 (9th Cir. 2023). The Eighth Amendment prohibits punishing someone for engaging in actions like sleeping that are necessary to human life when there is no place where they are legally entitled to do those things. Punishing someone in such circumstances effectively penalizes them for the status of being homeless and that violates rule of law norms. “The anti-camping ordinances [here] prohibit Plaintiffs from engaging in activity they cannot avoid,” the court explained. Nor can the city avoid this by criminalizing “using …

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