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🚔 Hold in custody 📄 Legal property claim 👮 Custody holder 🗝️ Keeps property
detainer

detainer

8.7
A person who keeps another's goods without the legal right to do so
  • noun
  • /dɪˈteɪnər/
: poseedor
  • The landlord was frustrated with the detainer who refused to return the rented furniture.

Examples

  • The detainer kept possession of the tools even though the rental agreement had ended.

  • After the eviction notice, the detainer continued to occupy the property without permission.

  • If they just refuse, we'll cover unlawful detainers below.

    Blog text (9)

  • Plus I'm doing some unlawful detainers for a friend of a friend who's trying to evict some tenants out in Rialto.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • And even if there was a 30-day requirement, even if they were only supposed to stay a weekend, you'd have to serve them a notice to quit and, after that, successfully prosecute an unlawful detainer in court and enforce it with police.

    Blog text (12)

Synonyms

holder
vsdetainer
190 2.1

A person who owns something, for example a ticket or passport

often lacks legal right and may keep items without lawful ownership
squatter
vsdetainer
23 5.7

A person who lives in a house or on land without permission

is used for keeping many goods or property, not just land
possessor
vsdetainer
9 5.2

A person who owns something

may lack legal ownership and simply keep possession without right
seizer
vsdetainer
7.7

A person or thing that takes and keeps something

keeps possession over time rather than being the initial taker
larcener
vsdetainer
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who illegally takes other people's things

keeps possession often without legal right, not necessarily committing theft

How Lawful

owner
∞ 1.0
detainer
8.7
thief
754 1.0

Surface Forms

detainer singular
detainers plural

Morphology

detainer = detain (semi-transparent) = detain + er

Formed from 'detain' + '-er', but used for a possessor of goods (often unlawfully) which is a legal nuance learners may not predict from the base verb alone.

Etymology

Detainer comes from Latin de- and tenere, meaning 'to hold', like in tenant and retain. So a detainer can be someone who keeps goods or property in their possession, sometimes without the legal right to do so.