Also known as: waste · doctrine of waste · waste (property) · property waste
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine imposing a duty on persons holding limited estates in land not to impair the value of the property in a manner that prejudices the interests of those entitled to future possession or security.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Mortgagee holds a loan secured by Blackacre, a wooded tract. Mortgagor, without consent, cuts all merchantable timber and sells it. The removal constitutes waste impairing the security, entitling Mortgagee to foreclosure, injunction, or damages.
Lola Langley holds a fee tail preserved for a single lifetime. She begins harvesting all merchantable timber from the parcel without regard to future interests. The action violates the duty that limits her privileges to those of a fee simple owner except for the prohibition on waste.
Mortgagee holds a loan secured by Blackacre. After natural wear causes a roof leak, Mortgagor does not repair it. The timbers rot and the roof collapses. The preventable damage constitutes waste for which Mortgagee may obtain foreclosure, injunction, or damages.
Mortgagee holds a loan secured by Blackacre. An earthquake damages the house, but Mortgagor makes no repairs. The failure to act after a natural event does not constitute waste because the damage is not preventable by the mortgagor.
Lucy Liu's will directs the executor to raze her residence before distribution to the remaindermen. The court refuses to enforce the direction because deliberate destruction would constitute waste that harms the interests of those entitled to the property in its existing condition.
Leo Lynch extracts coal from beneath land subject to a mortgage held by Liberty Trust. The extraction causes surface subsidence that reduces the parcel's value below the mortgage debt. The impairment constitutes waste for which the mortgagee may obtain injunctive relief or damages.
A mortgagee may foreclose, obtain an injunction, or recover damages. The choice among remedies belongs to the mortgagee, and reasonable repair costs may be added to the secured obligation.
No. Ordinary depreciation from use or the elements does not qualify as waste. Only affirmative acts or omissions that cause preventable damage beyond normal aging trigger liability.
Removal is permissible only if the life tenant holds an interest that expressly or impliedly authorizes extraction. Otherwise the act constitutes waste because it permanently depletes the corpus that the remainderman expects to receive.
…down by the Court today leads to the conclusion that this long and arduous refining process of § 501(c)(3) was certainly a waste of time, for when enacting the original 1894 statute Congress intended to adopt a common-law term of art, and intended that this term of art carry with it all of the common-law baggage…