Legal Definitions - reentry

Reentry, in a legal context, refers to the act of taking back possession of real property. This right typically arises in two main situations:

• When a previous owner takes back land: This occurs when someone who originally owned and granted property to another person had included a specific condition in the grant. If the new owner fails to meet or violates that condition, the original grantor retains the legal right to reclaim the property.

• When a landlord takes back leased premises: This happens when a tenant abandons a property or breaches a significant term of their lease agreement, such as failing to pay rent or using the property improperly. The landlord then has the legal right to repossess the property, often after following specific legal procedures.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of reentry:

• Example 1 (Grantor's Right): A philanthropic family donates a large parcel of land to a local university with the specific condition that it must always be used for educational purposes and never sold for commercial development. Years later, the university faces financial difficulties and proposes selling a portion of the land to a private developer for a shopping center. The family's descendants, as the original grantors, would likely have the legal right of reentry to reclaim the land because the university violated the condition of the original grant.

  This example illustrates reentry in the context of a grantor reclaiming property due to the grantee's (the university's) failure to adhere to a specific condition attached to the original transfer of the land.

• Example 2 (Landlord's Right - Abandonment): A tenant rents a commercial storefront for a small boutique. After three months, the tenant stops paying rent, removes all merchandise, locks the doors, and cannot be reached. The landlord, after sending legally required notices and waiting a specified period, can exercise their right of reentry to take back possession of the storefront, clean it out, and prepare it for a new tenant.

  This demonstrates a landlord's right of reentry when a tenant has clearly abandoned the leased premises and defaulted on their rental obligations.

• Example 3 (Landlord's Right - Lease Breach): A homeowner leases their property to a tenant with a strict "no pets" clause in the lease agreement. Despite repeated warnings, the tenant acquires two large dogs, causing damage to the property and disturbing neighbors. After following the proper legal eviction and notice procedures outlined in the lease and local law, the homeowner, as the landlord, can exercise their right of reentry to regain possession of the property due to the tenant's significant breach of the lease terms.

  This example shows a landlord's reentry based on a tenant's violation of a material term of the lease agreement, which constitutes a default.