Also known as: self-help remedy · self help remedies · selfhelp remedies · self-help · self help
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Methods available to a party to enforce rights or recover property without initiating judicial proceedings. These methods are permitted only when controlling law expressly preserves them and when they can be executed without physical harm or damage to persons or property. Agreements attempting to expand self-help beyond those limits are void as against public policy.
Metro Auto Mall leased space to Carlos Motors. After the lease expired Carlos continued displaying cars on the lot. State law supplied a fast-track eviction process but did not preserve self-help. Metro hired a towing company to remove the vehicles overnight. Carlos sued for wrongful eviction because the availability of the speedy judicial remedy made the self-help improper.
Sapphire Technologies discovered that Synergy Systems had installed equipment that repeatedly trespassed on its property. Sapphire considered sending its own crew to dismantle the equipment but instead sought an injunction. The court weighed the adequacy of damages against the risks of self-help measures and granted the injunction because self-help would have created greater disruption and potential harm.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Skyline Construction leased space to Southland Foods. The lease contained a clause allowing Skyline to change the locks if Southland held over. State law provided a speedy eviction remedy and did not preserve self-help. When Skyline attempted to enforce the clause after the term ended, the court held the clause void as against public policy.
Harbor Medical Properties leased space to Valley Family Clinic. After the lease expired Valley continued operating. Harbor changed the locks during peak patient hours while staff and patients were inside. Even though state law permitted limited self-help, the method created a reasonable expectation of physical harm. The court ruled the self-help unlawful because it violated the requirements of reasonable timing and safety.
Mrs. Firestone sued a magazine for defamation arising from coverage of her divorce. The magazine argued she had greater access to channels of communication than a private citizen. The Court noted that public figures can resort to self-help through the media to counteract false statements, reducing the need for certain legal protections available to private individuals.
A landlord brought an action to recover possession from a holdover tenant under an Oregon statute providing early trial and simplified procedures. The tenant challenged the statute on equal-protection grounds. The Court upheld the statute because prompt judicial resolution of possessory disputes serves the legitimate interest in avoiding resort to self-help remedies that risk violence or breach of the peace.
A landlord may not resort to self-help when controlling law supplies a speedy judicial remedy for recovering possession from a holdover tenant and does not expressly preserve self-help. The policy channels disputes into orderly court proceedings and avoids the risk of breach of the peace.
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Self-help must occur within a reasonable time after the lease terminates, without causing physical harm or a reasonable expectation of harm to the tenant or permitted occupants, and with reasonable care to avoid damage to the tenant's property. Any lease clause attempting to eliminate these requirements is void.
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No. When controlling law supplies a speedy judicial remedy and does not preserve self-help, any agreement purporting to authorize the landlord to use self-help is against public policy and void.
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Courts weigh the adequacy of damages against the risks created by self-help measures when deciding whether to grant an injunction. Factors include the nature of the interests harmed, the cost of assessing damages, and the potential for repeated suits or violence if self-help is used.
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…Indeed, the law of defamation is rooted in our experience that the truth rarely catches up with a lie. But the fact that the self-help remedy of rebuttal, standing alone, is inadequate to its task does not mean that it is irrelevant to our inquiry. [^maj-10]: Our caveat against strict liability is the prime target of MR. JUSTICE…