Legal Definitions - terre-tenant

Definition: Terre-tenant refers to a person who has actual possession of land or property. 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.

Examples:

• John is the terre-tenant of the farm he inherited from his grandfather.
• After the bank foreclosed on the property, Sarah became the terre-tenant of the house she purchased at auction.
• When the court placed a lien on the property, the original owner became the judgment debtor and the subsequent purchaser became the terre-tenant.

The examples illustrate how a person can become a terre-tenant through ownership or purchase of a property. In the case of a lien, the judgment debtor loses ownership of the property and the subsequent purchaser becomes the terre-tenant with an interest in the land.