Unlawful detainer

A detention of real property, without the express or implied consent of the landlord or other person entitled to possession, by one who, having come lawfully into possession either under a lease or other grant or letting for a definite or indefinite period, continues to hold possession after his lease or right to hold, either from lapse of time or some other cause, terminates, and with it, his right to remain in possession. See 120 Am. St. Rep. 34, note.

The unjustifiable retention of the possession of lands by one whose original entry was lawful and of right, but whose right to the possession has terminated and who refuses to quit, as in the case of a tenant holding over after the termination of the lease and in spite of a demand for possession by the landlord. McDevitt v. Lambert, 80 Ala. 536, 2 South. 438; Silva v. Campbell, 84 Cal. 420. 24 Pac. 316; Code Tenn. 1896, § 5093. Where an entry upon lands is unlawful, whether forcible or not, and the subsequent conduct is forcible and tortious, the offense committed is a "forcible entry and detainer;" but where the original entry is lawful, and the subsequent holding forcible and tortious, the offense is an "unlawful detainer" only. Pullen v. Boney, 4 N. J. Law, 129.

Defined under Unlawful in Black's Law Dictionary.