Legal Definitions - enterceur

An enterceur is a legal term referring to a person or entity that has a claim to goods currently held by a third party, or who originally entrusted goods to a third party. Essentially, it describes someone asserting ownership or a right over property that is not in their direct possession but is being held by someone else.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Stolen Property Recovery
  Imagine a valuable piece of jewelry that was stolen from its owner. Years later, the police recover the jewelry during an investigation and are holding it as evidence. The original owner, who comes forward to prove ownership and reclaim the jewelry from the police, would be considered the enterceur.

  This illustrates the term because the original owner is the party claiming goods (the jewelry) that are currently in the possession of a third party (the police).

• Example 2: Goods in Storage
  A small business owner decides to temporarily store a large batch of seasonal merchandise in a commercial storage facility before the peak sales period. The storage facility holds the goods on behalf of the business. In this scenario, the business owner is the enterceur.

  Here, the business owner is the party who placed their goods (the merchandise) in the hands of a third party (the storage facility) and maintains a claim over them.

• Example 3: Vehicle Impoundment
  A person lends their car to a friend for a weekend trip. While the friend is driving, the car is involved in a minor accident and subsequently impounded by a towing company due to a local ordinance. The original owner of the car, who now needs to retrieve it from the towing company, acts as the enterceur.

  This example shows the original owner as the party claiming goods (the car) that are being held by a third party (the towing company), even though the car was initially entrusted to a different third party (the friend).