Also known as: possessory interests · possessory rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal right entitling a person to possess or control property and to exclude others from it.
Pavel Petrov remained in the apartment after his one-year lease expired. The landlord had not renewed the lease or granted permission to stay. Pavel continued paying rent monthly while the landlord accepted the payments without objection. His continued occupancy created an estate at sufferance supported by his prior possessory interest.
Precision Tools sold its warehouse to a new owner. The buyer immediately notified a former licensee that entry was no longer permitted. The licensee nevertheless entered to retrieve equipment. Termination of the seller's possessory interest ended any consent that had previously allowed the entry.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Pierre Poulin conveyed the western half of his parcel to Patrick Phan while retaining the eastern half. The only access road crossed the western half. The circumstances of the division created an implied easement benefiting the retained parcel because both owners held possessory interests in their respective parts.
Police seized documents from the trunk of a car belonging to Pablo Perez. The documents were his personal papers. The seizure directly implicated his possessory interest in those effects even though he was not present during the search.
Phoenix Technologies operated email servers used by its employees. Cyber Promotions sent thousands of unsolicited messages that consumed server resources. The company held a possessory interest in its computer systems that was impaired by the deliberate flooding of messages.
Two passengers rode in a borrowed vehicle driven by its owner. Officers searched the glove compartment and found contraband. The passengers asserted no ownership or leasehold in the car and therefore lacked any possessory interest that would support a Fourth Amendment challenge.
No. A person may hold a possessory interest without owning the property, as when a tenant or bailee exercises control and the right to exclude others.
Supporting sources
Consent ends when the possessory interest itself terminates by transfer or other means, so a former possessor can no longer authorize entry.
An implied easement arises when a single parcel is divided and circumstances show the parties intended continued use of one part to benefit the possessory interest in the other part.
Passengers who assert no ownership or leasehold in the vehicle typically lack a possessory interest in the car or its contents sufficient to claim Fourth Amendment protection.
…to which Teleprompter's cable and hardware attach. Under modern landlord-tenant law, a residential tenancy is not merely a possessory interest in specified space, but also a contract for the provision of a package of services and facilities necessary and appurtenant to that space. See R. Schoshinski, American Law of Landlord and…