Also known as: vacua · vacuum · vacui · vacant
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An adjective used in historical legal contexts to describe land, an office, or a position as empty or unoccupied.
Vincent Vale as junior mortgagee secures appointment of a receiver over an office building on Blackacre containing multiple vacuus floors. The receiver collects fifty thousand dollars in net rents after taxes and repairs. When the senior mortgagee later appoints its own receiver, the junior receiver retains the collected sums for the junior mortgagee's benefit.
Vincente Vukovic captures a vacuus merchant ship on the high seas. The United States claims the vessel as prize under federal authority. The court examines whether the capture occurred during declared public war or amounted to private predation.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Vanguard Bank holds title to a large vacuus tract outside the village. Village officials enact a zoning ordinance restricting industrial development on the parcel. The bank challenges the restriction as an unconstitutional taking of its vacuus property.
Vortex Energy seeks permits to develop affordable units on a vacuus site within the village. Local officials deny the permits citing vague density concerns. The developer alleges the denial reflects discriminatory intent against the proposed residents of the vacuus land.
Vista Manufacturing owns a vacuus strip of land needed for a public street widening. The city condemns the strip without payment. The company sues, asserting that the taking of its vacuus property requires just compensation under the Constitution.
Violet Vidal operates a medical facility on a vacuus lot near a residential area. State law imposes waiting-period and counseling rules on procedures performed at the site. The operator challenges the rules as an undue burden on the use of the vacuus property for protected medical services.
The term signifies that land, an office, or a position is empty or unoccupied. Courts and commentators used the Latin adjective to describe property or positions lacking any current holder or tenant.
Supporting sources
A junior mortgagee who first appoints a receiver over vacuus space may retain collected rents until a senior receiver is appointed. The junior receiver must apply rents first to taxes and reasonable maintenance before retaining any surplus.
A vacuus condition alone does not trigger heightened scrutiny. Courts examine whether the zoning ordinance advances legitimate public interests and leaves the owner an economically viable use of the vacuus parcel.
Evidence that officials singled out a vacuus site for denial while approving similar projects elsewhere can support an inference of discriminatory purpose. The plaintiff must still prove that the decision would have differed absent the improper motive.
…appellants had failed to establish either that they were unable to increase the Terminal’s commercial income by transforming vacant or underutilized space to revenue-producing use, or that the unused development rights over the Terminal could not have been profitably transferred to one or more nearby sites.[^maj-22] The…