Legal Definitions - ejectment bill

An ejectment bill was a specific type of legal action historically filed in a court of equity. Its primary purpose was to allow a person to reclaim possession of real estate (such as land or a building) from someone who was unlawfully occupying it. In addition to regaining the property, the bill also sought an accounting and payment of any income or profits generated from that property during the period of unlawful occupation.

What made an ejectment bill distinctive, and often problematic, was that it sought remedies—recovering land and monetary compensation—that were typically available through a standard "ejectment" lawsuit in a common law court. Historically, for a case to be heard in an equity court, it usually needed a unique reason or a "distinct ground of equity jurisdiction" that common law courts could not adequately address. An ejectment bill often lacked such a unique equitable basis, making it vulnerable to dismissal because the defendant could argue that the case did not properly belong in an equity court.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Disputed Property Line
  Imagine a homeowner, Mr. Chen, discovers that his neighbor, Ms. Rodriguez, has extended her garden fence several feet onto his property. Mr. Chen wants Ms. Rodriguez to remove the fence and vacate his land. He also believes Ms. Rodriguez has benefited from using his land for her garden and wants compensation for that use. If Mr. Chen's attorney were to file an ejectment bill in an equity court to achieve both the recovery of his land and an accounting of the profits (the benefit Ms. Rodriguez gained), it would be an example of this historical action. The core issue of reclaiming land possession could typically be handled by a common law court, making the equity filing potentially inappropriate and subject to dismissal.
• Example 2: Tenant Refusing to Vacate
  Consider a commercial landlord, "Downtown Properties Inc.," whose tenant, "Gourmet Bites Cafe," refuses to leave the leased storefront even after their lease agreement has officially ended. Downtown Properties wants to regain immediate possession of the storefront and also seeks to recover unpaid rent and any additional profits Gourmet Bites Cafe might have earned by continuing to operate from the premises without a valid lease. If Downtown Properties were to file an ejectment bill in an equity court for this purpose, it would be attempting to use an equity procedure for a matter that could typically be resolved through a standard landlord-tenant or ejectment action in a common law court. The remedies sought—possession and monetary compensation—are generally available at common law.
• Example 3: Fraudulent Transfer of Land
  Suppose a family member, Ms. Davis, believes her cousin fraudulently transferred a piece of ancestral land, which rightfully belongs to her, to a third party. Ms. Davis wants the land returned to her and also wants to claim any income or profits the cousin or the third party might have gained from the land since the fraudulent transfer. If her attorney files an ejectment bill in an equity court to achieve this, it would be an attempt to recover real property and an accounting of profits. While the underlying claim of fraud might suggest an equitable issue, if the primary relief sought is simply possession and monetary compensation, an ejectment bill could still be vulnerable to the argument that a common law action for ejectment would suffice, thus lacking a distinct ground for equity jurisdiction.