Also known as: occupancies · occupant · occupants · occupy · occupies · occupied · occupying · occupation · occupations · occupatio · occupare · occupavit · occupatile · adverse possession · taking possession
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
The state of using or residing in a structure or land with the intent to control it. This state determines whether a building qualifies as a dwelling of another for criminal liability.
The state of using or residing in a structure or land with the intent to control it. This state determines whether a building qualifies as a dwelling of another for criminal liability.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The state of using or residing in a structure or land with the intent to control it. This state fixes the rights of landlords and incoming tenants against a holdover occupant.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The state of using or residing in a structure or land with the intent to control it. This state fixes the rights of landlords and incoming tenants against a holdover occupant.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Oliver Okeke rents a house to Olive Okafor who sleeps there every night while running an online business from the kitchen. Owen Ortega breaks a window at 2 a.m. and reaches inside to steal cash. Because Olive regularly uses the house for sleeping, the structure remains a dwelling even though she also conducts business there.
Omega Energy leases a warehouse that has stood empty for six months after the prior tenant moved out. Onyx O'Reilly pries open a side door intending to store stolen equipment inside. The premises are not an occupied structure because they are no longer adapted for overnight accommodation or business after the tenant vacated without intent to return.
Officers find Ophelia O'Brien and several others inside a nearly empty house filled with drug paraphernalia and no furniture. No one claims ownership or a right to be there. The officers may infer from the condition of the premises and the occupants' behavior that the gathering is unauthorized.
No. A temporary absence does not strip the structure of its character as a dwelling when the occupants intend to return and have used it regularly for sleeping.
Supporting sources
Yes. Occupancy rather than ownership controls. An owner commits burglary of the owner's own building when tenants occupy it and use it as their dwelling.
Supporting sources
A structure qualifies when it is adapted for overnight accommodation of persons or for carrying on business, whether or not anyone is actually present at the time of entry.
Supporting sources
Oakridge Manufacturing remains in its factory thirty days after the lease expires. The landlord has not yet elected to treat the tenant as a trespasser. Oakridge must pay for use and occupation at the prior rental rate during the holdover period.
A commercial landlord discovers that a former tenant has continued to store inventory inside the leased premises after lease termination. The landlord elects not to treat the tenant as a trespasser. The landlord recovers the reasonable value of the use and occupation for the period of holdover.
Olympia Steel occupies a disputed strip of land for the statutory period under a mistaken boundary belief. The continuous use satisfies the requirements for adverse possession, transferring title by operation of law without any deed from the record owner.
The landlord recovers for use and occupation at the previous rental rate or at the proven reasonable value if that amount differs.
Supporting sources
…Second, he must obtain the approbation of New York City’s Planning Commission which will focus on the effects of the transfer on occupants of the buildings in the vicinity of the transferee lot and whether the landmark owner will preserve the landmark. Finally, the matter goes to the Board of Estimate, which has final…