Legal Definitions - real action

A real action is a type of legal proceeding specifically focused on establishing or recovering rights to real property. Real property refers to land and anything permanently attached to it, such as buildings, trees, or fences. Unlike lawsuits that seek monetary compensation (damages) or the return of personal items, a real action directly concerns the ownership, possession, or boundaries of a piece of land or a building.

Here are some examples of situations where a real action would apply:

• Boundary Dispute: Imagine two neighbors, Mr. Henderson and Ms. Chen, who disagree about where their property line lies. Mr. Henderson believes Ms. Chen's newly built shed encroaches onto his backyard by several feet. He files a lawsuit asking the court to determine the correct boundary between their properties and order Ms. Chen to move her shed. This is a real action because the core of the dispute is the physical land itself and its precise boundaries.

• Eviction Proceedings: A landlord, Acme Apartments, has a tenant, Mr. Davis, who has stopped paying rent and refuses to vacate the apartment despite receiving proper notice. Acme Apartments initiates a lawsuit to legally remove Mr. Davis and regain control and possession of their rental unit. This constitutes a real action because the landlord's primary goal is to recover possession of their real property (the apartment) from the tenant.

• Dispute Over Inherited Land: After their grandmother's passing, two cousins, Sarah and Mark, discover that the will ambiguously describes who inherits a specific plot of undeveloped land. Both believe they are the rightful owner according to their interpretation of the will. Sarah files a lawsuit asking the court to clarify the will's terms and declare her the legal owner of the land. This is a real action because the lawsuit's purpose is to establish clear ownership rights over a specific piece of real property.