Legal Definitions - non-feasance

Non-feasance refers to the complete failure to perform an act or duty that one has agreed or is legally obligated to carry out.

It is distinct from:

• Misfeasance, which means performing a lawful act in an improper or negligent manner.
• Malfeasance, which involves performing an act that is unlawful or wrongful.

In essence, non-feasance is about inaction when action was required and expected.

Here are some examples illustrating non-feasance:

• Imagine a homeowner hires a professional painter to paint the exterior of their house by a specific date. The painter accepts the job, agrees to the terms, and is paid a deposit. However, the painter never shows up to the property, never starts the work, and makes no attempt to contact the homeowner to reschedule or explain the delay.

  This is an example of non-feasance because the painter completely failed to perform the agreed-upon task of painting the house. They did not perform it poorly (misfeasance) or illegally (malfeasance); they simply did not perform it at all.

• Consider a security company contracted by a business to provide overnight patrols of its premises. The contract specifies that a guard must walk the perimeter and check all entry points every two hours. On a particular night, the assigned security guard remains in their vehicle for the entire shift, never leaving to conduct the required patrols.

  This situation demonstrates non-feasance because the security guard, acting as an agent for the company, completely failed to perform the specific patrol duties they were obligated to carry out under the agreement.

• A property management company is hired by an apartment building owner to handle all maintenance requests from tenants. A tenant reports a significant leak in their ceiling, but the property management company fails to dispatch a repair person or take any steps to address the issue for several weeks, despite their contractual obligation to manage maintenance.

  This illustrates non-feasance because the property management company completely neglected its agreed-upon duty to respond to and manage maintenance requests, leading to a failure to act on a critical repair.