Skip to main content
DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Section 11-735

Citation
Section 11-735
Parent Document
Mendes v. Johnson, 389 A.2d 781 (1978)
Jurisdiction
DC (municipal)
Effective Date
1978-06-13

Other Sections in This Document (216)

Full Text

535 chars
Under early common law, a landlord was privileged to enter upon his land and recover it by force, using violence if necessary. However, this privilege was modified as early as 1381, when a statute was passed making such forcible entry a criminal offense.[3] This criminal statute was accepted as part of the common law, or reenacted, by nearly all of our states.[4] In addition, most states provided a summary procedure whereby a landlord could quickly reacquire possession from a defaulting tenant with the aid of judicial process.[5]