Property Belonging to Others
Personal property that belongs to you or to another person who owes the rent can be seized. Property that belongs to anyone else cannot generally be seized, although there are some exceptions.
Property on the rented premises belonging to others can be seized as follows:
- property that you gave to someone else as a gift, transfer, or assignment, or the person bought the item from you;
- property that you disposed of for the purpose of avoiding seizure for distress;
- property that belongs to a relative of yours who lives on the premises as a member of your family;
- property that another person is claiming on the basis of writ proceedings against you. This would cover the situation where another person was trying to effect seizure against you for some reason. The landlord’s seizure for distress for rent would have priority. In a similar situation, another person could be claiming the property on the basis of having a security interest in it which might lead to the property not being available for seizure.
| For example, a bank may have a line of credit secured against your personal property.The seizure for distress for rent would have priority, unless the security interest is a purchase-money security interest. A purchase-money security interest would apply, for example, where the tenant was purchasing a television and paying for it over time. If the documents relating to the purchase of the television state that the television belongs to the seller until it is fully paid for, that is a purchase-money security interest. The television could not, therefore, be seized through proceedings for distress for rent. |
May 2005
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