continuing trespass

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Continuing trespass broadly can refer to any recurring infringement of another person’s rights. While sometimes trespass is used in this broad sense, continued trespass in the modern context generally refers to trespass onto the land or property of another repetitiously or without ever ceasing. If a person knocked down their tree onto the neighbor's property and refused to remove the tree, this person would be considered continuously trespassing onto the neighbor’s property. Continued trespass has a few unique qualities as opposed to the basic trespass. First, situations occur where it is difficult to determine whether trespass is continuously occurring such as where someone adds a water drain that sometimes sends water onto neighboring property. Secondly, continued trespass may give rise to requests for injunctions to remove the object causing the continued injury. Thirdly, unlike the usual trespass which would be subject to the statute of limitations from the time of the action, continuing trespass by its nature is an on-going trespass that has ceased to end, and accordingly, the statute of limitations does not apply until the trespass stops. Lastly, because continued trespass may involve separate occurrences as in the case of the water drain, continued trespass causes litigation over whether multiple causes of action exist or whether only one exists to remedy the multiple injuries. Imagine an example where a person inserts a water drain on their property which causes their neighbor’s garden to flood when it rains. If this occurs five different times, a court must decide whether these must be treated separately or together with most jurisdictions combining the injuries into one case. 

[Last updated in January of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]