Also known as: self redresses · self-redressed · self-redressing · self-help · self-redress remedy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An extrajudicial method of enforcing a legal right through direct action without first obtaining a court order. The method is available only when the controlling law expressly preserves it and only when the actor satisfies strict conditions on timing, manner, and avoidance of harm.
Steven Silva's lease with Synergy Systems ended on June 30. Synergy remained in the premises and refused to leave. The jurisdiction provides a speedy unlawful-detainer action. Steven therefore could not change the locks or remove Synergy's equipment himself.
Selena Singh discovered that Sterling Dynamics had repeatedly trespassed on her land to test equipment. She considered blocking the access road herself rather than seeking an injunction. The relative adequacy of damages compared with injunctive relief turned in part on the effects of such self-help measures.
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Samuel Soto's lease with Southland Foods contained a clause permitting the landlord to reenter by force upon default. The controlling law did not preserve any right of self-help. The clause was therefore void as against public policy.
Sophia Singh terminated a commercial lease with Skyline Construction. Skyline held over. Sophia and the incoming tenant used security personnel to remove Skyline's equipment while employees were still inside. The removal occurred after the lease ended but created a reasonable expectation of physical harm, violating the conditions for permissible self-help.
Serena Soto, a minority shareholder, alleged that corporate directors had misled her about a merger vote. She considered organizing other shareholders to block the transaction directly rather than filing suit. The availability of judicial remedies made such direct action unnecessary and improper.
Sylvia Santos discovered that a former employee had taken proprietary formulas to a competitor. She considered physically retrieving the documents rather than pursuing litigation. The existence of adequate judicial remedies rendered self-help both unnecessary and legally risky.
A landlord may use self-redress only when the controlling law expressly preserves the right and only when recovery occurs within a reasonable time, without physical harm or the reasonable expectation of harm, and with reasonable care to avoid damage to the tenant's property.
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Yes. When the controlling law supplies a speedy judicial remedy for recovery of possession, neither the landlord nor an incoming tenant may resort to self-help unless the law expressly preserves that right.
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No. Such an agreement is void as against public policy.
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The relative adequacy of damages compared with injunctive relief depends in part on the effects of resort to measures of self-help, among other enumerated factors.
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…but the impact on those who rely on the public authority for protection and who without it can only engage in violent self-help with guns, knives and the help of their neighbors similarly inclined. There is, of course, a saving factor: the next victims are uncertain, unnamed and unrepresented in this case. Nor can…