Also known as: seisin · seisins
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A covenant in a general warranty deed by which the grantor assures the grantee of good title and the right to convey the land at the time of delivery. The covenant is breached immediately if the grantor lacks seisin. It may run with the land and support claims by remote grantees in jurisdictions that follow the English rule.
Sean Steele conveyed land to Sofia Stern by general warranty deed reciting the covenant of seisin. Sean never held title. Sofia later conveyed to Stella Shapiro who discovered the defect and sued Sean for breach. The immediate breach allowed Stella to recover as assignee of the chose in action.
Samuel Soto leased warehouse space to the government for a short term. The government argued that compensation should be limited to rental value alone. The court rejected the argument because limiting recovery to bare rental would treat the owner's interest like a mere peppercorn in the law of seisin.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Selena Singh started a fox on open land and was about to seize it with her hounds. Samuel Soto killed and carried the fox away in view of the chase. The dispute turned on whether starting and pursuing the animal conferred seisin sufficient for an action in trespass.
Samantha Stone received a legislative grant of land from the state. Later the legislature attempted to rescind the grant. The court held that delivery of the grant passed seisin and the rescission could not divest the vested title without violating the contract clause.
Skyline Construction owned a chicken farm. Frequent low military flights rendered the land unusable. The court measured just compensation by the owner's loss of seisin rather than the government's limited gain from the easement.
Stella Shapiro and her husband held land as joint tenants. Stella executed a deed conveying her interest to herself as tenant in common. The court held that the deed effected a severance because it transferred seisin out of the joint tenancy.
The covenant is breached at the instant the deed is delivered if the grantor lacks good title. No ouster or eviction is required. The breach creates a chose in action that may be assigned to remote grantees.
Supporting sources
In some jurisdictions the covenant runs with the land under the English rule. Subsequent deeds operate as assignments of the chose in action. Remote grantees may therefore sue the original grantor for the breach.
Supporting sources
The covenant of seisin warrants that the grantor holds good title at delivery. The covenant against encumbrances warrants that the title is free from liens or burdens. Both are present covenants broken immediately if false.
Supporting sources
…present, through waste and unoccupied lands, which must inevitably and speedily have terminated in corporal possession or bodily seisin, confers such a right to the object of it as to make any one a wrongdoer who shall interfere and shoulder the spoil. The justice's judgment ought, therefore, in my opinion, to be affirmed.