Legal Definitions - ejector

An ejector is an individual or entity who removes another person from the possession of property, most commonly real estate. This removal can occur through legal means, such as a court-ordered eviction, or through unlawful actions, like forcibly taking over someone's land without permission.

Historically, in a specific type of legal action known as "ejectment" (which was used to determine who had the rightful title to land), a legal fiction was employed involving a casual ejector. This was a purely nominal (in name only) defendant, often a fictional person, who was *presumed* to have accidentally entered the property and removed the lawful possessor. This procedural device allowed the real parties in dispute over land ownership to bring their case to court without having to prove an actual, violent dispossession had occurred.

• Example 1 (Modern Ejector - Lawful): A landlord, after a tenant repeatedly fails to pay rent and ignores official notices, obtains a court order for eviction. When the sheriff arrives to physically remove the tenant and their belongings from the apartment, the landlord (through the sheriff acting on the court's authority) is the ejector. This illustrates a lawful removal of a person from property.

• Example 2 (Modern Ejector - Unlawful): A property owner discovers that a group of individuals has illegally occupied a vacant commercial building they own. The owner calls the police, who, after confirming the lack of legal right to occupy, remove the squatters from the premises. In this scenario, the police, acting on behalf of the rightful owner, serve as the ejector, removing individuals who had unlawfully taken possession of the property.

• Example 3 (Historical Casual Ejector): Imagine two landowners, Ms. Chen and Mr. Davies, in the 17th century, are disputing the exact boundary line between their large estates. To resolve this complex land title dispute in court using the "ejectment" action, Ms. Chen (the plaintiff) would technically sue a fictional person, perhaps named "Richard Roe," claiming that this casual ejector had "casually" entered the disputed strip of land and removed Ms. Chen's tenant. This legal fiction allowed the court to proceed with the real argument between Ms. Chen and Mr. Davies about who truly owned that piece of land, without needing to prove an actual physical eviction by "Richard Roe."