Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A good-faith assertion or belief of legal entitlement to property. The belief defeats the fraudulent intent required for theft offenses such as embezzlement when the actor converts property he honestly thinks he is owed. The same belief satisfies the hostility element of adverse possession when successive possessors occupy land under a mistaken boundary.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Mistaken Boundary Supports Tacking
Claire Campbell and her predecessors maintained a hedgerow and irrigation ditch on a narrow strip they believed belonged to their farm because of an old city survey stake. They planted crops and grazed cattle on the strip for decades without permission from the true owner Charlotte Chung. When Chung later sued to quiet title, the court held that the good-faith belief allowed tacking of the successive periods and satisfied the hostility requirement for adverse possession.
Urgent Re-Entry After Dispossession
Colin Chambers returned to his cabin after a winter absence and found strangers occupying it. Believing the occupants had no right to the land and that waiting for a court order would cause exceptional hardship because winter supplies were inside, Chambers used reasonable force to regain entry. The honest belief that the occupants lacked any claim of right justified the re-entry under the governing defense rules.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Cases
Model Codes
Common Law
Restatements
Casebooks
Resisting Known Property Claim
Cade Carpenter attempted to drive his repaired car off the lot without paying the bill. The service manager Curtis Cannon stepped in front of the vehicle and grabbed the door handle to enforce the shop's lien. Knowing Cannon was acting under a lawful claim of right to retain the car, Carpenter punched him. The knowledge that force was being used to protect property under a claim of right barred Carpenter from claiming self-defense.
Retreat Before Deadly Force
Christine Castro confronted a neighbor who asserted ownership of a shared tool shed and demanded she leave. Knowing she could safely retreat or surrender the shed to the person claiming a right to it, Castro nevertheless drew a weapon. The availability of safe retreat to a person asserting a claim of right defeated her justification for using deadly force.
Honest Belief Negates Theft Intent
Charlotte Chung removed scrap metal from a construction site believing her former employer still owed her wages and that the metal constituted payment. She openly loaded the metal onto her truck without concealment. The honest belief that she held a claim of right to the metal prevented the formation of the fraudulent intent required for embezzlement.
Morrissette v. United States342 U.S. 246, 72 S.Ct. 240, 96 L.Ed. 288.
Claim of Right in Foreign Dispute
Compass Logistics seized a shipment of bananas in a foreign port after its local agent was ousted by a rival company. Company officers believed they retained a contractual right to the goods despite the change in local control. The asserted claim of right framed the subsequent antitrust litigation over whether the seizure constituted an unlawful restraint.
American Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co.213 U.S. 347 (1909)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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Does a claim of right need to be reasonable to defeat theft intent?+
No. An honest though unreasonable belief that one is entitled to the property is sufficient to negate the fraudulent intent required for embezzlement or larceny.
Supporting sources
How does a claim of right affect the hostility element in adverse possession?+
A good-faith belief that the occupied land belongs to the claimant satisfies the hostility requirement even when the belief rests on a mistaken boundary. Successive possessors may tack their periods when each acted under the same mistaken belief.
Supporting sources
When may a person use force to resist someone acting under a claim of right to property?+
Modern self-defense rules generally prohibit resistance when the actor knows the other person is using force under a lawful claim of right to protect property. Exceptions exist for public officers or when the actor was unlawfully dispossessed and is making a justified re-entry.
Supporting sources
Does an open assertion of a claim of right help prove the defense in an embezzlement prosecution?+
Yes. Open and undisguised retention or conversion of property tends to support the existence of a bona fide claim of right that negates fraudulent intent.
Supporting sources
342 U.S. 246, 72 S.Ct. 240, 96 L.Ed. 288.Criminal Law
…“1. For the purposes of this Act— “(1) A person steals who, without the consent of the owner, fraudulently and without a claim of right made in good faith, takes and carries away anything capable of being stolen with intent, at the time of such taking, permanently to deprive the owner thereof: “Provided that a person…