Legal Definitions - land-tenant

LAND-TENANT

A land-tenant, also known as a terre-tenant, is a person who has actual possession of land or is the occupant of land. It can also refer to someone who has an interest in a judgment debtor's land after the judgment creditor's lien has attached to the land, such as a subsequent purchaser.

• John is the land-tenant of the farm he inherited from his grandfather.
• After the judgment creditor's lien attached to the property, Sarah became the terre-tenant of the land she purchased from the judgment debtor.

In the first example, John is the person who has actual possession of the land, making him the land-tenant. In the second example, Sarah purchased the land after the judgment creditor's lien had attached to it, making her the terre-tenant with an interest in the judgment debtor's land.