mesne profits

Mesne profits must be drawn from the land itself, rather than improvements on it.

By law, trespass for mesne profits is a suit against someone who has been ejected from property that did not belong to them.

Calculating mesne profits is often regulated by legislatures, but may be litigated in a court of equity.

The district judge may enter judgment for mesne profits accrued after the hearing on application supported if he so requires, by affidavit.

Trespass for mesne profits

The liability to pay mesne profits is implied and rather distantly indicated in the Mishnah (Giṭ.

Claims may not include mesne profits as they may in the High Court, but are confined to claims for non-payment of rent.

In contrast to the High Court's requirements, in the county court the defendant need not pay in such mesne profits as might have accrued after service.

Mesne Profits: In the Mishnah and Talmud

The plaintiff had obtained judgment for recovery of possession of land, mesne profits and costs, and the defendant had made application to have the judgment set aside.

In the United States, laws regulating mesne profits have been the subject of Supreme Court decisions, such as Green v. Biddle, 21 U.S. 1 (1823).

The amount recovered as mesne profits need not be limited to the rental value of the land, but may include a sum to cover such items as deterioration or reasonable costs of getting possession.

Mesne profits may be calculated, even though there may be no point in doing so (as in the case where land was flooded by a dam, and the dam is not going to be removed).

Mesne profits are profits derived from land while in wrongful possession, and may be claimed in damages for trespass, either in a separate action or joined with an action for the recovery of the land.

Mesne profits commonly occur where a landlord has obtained an order from a court to evict a tenant, or where an individual sues to eject a bona fide landowner to whom title to land was improperly conveyed.

The plaintiff must prove that he has re-entered into possession, his title during the period for which he claims, the fact that the defendant has been in possession during that period, and the amount of the mesne profits.

For example, mesne profits may accrue from growing crops on land but would not generally accrue from a factory built on the land (unless there were damage to the land or improvements to the land itself such as the removal of stone from a field).