Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 77.djvu/597

 77 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 88-241-DEC. 23, 1963

§16-1104. Proof necessary (a) Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, in an action of ejectment it is sufficient to entitle the plaintiff to relief to show that he is entitled, as against the defendant, to the immediate possession of the premises claimed, and that the defendant is: (1) in possession of the premises, and is holding adversely to the plaintiff; or (2) exercising acts of ownership over the premises, adversely to the plaintiff. (b) In an action pursuant to this chapter by one or more joint tenants or tenants in common against their cotenants, the plaintiffs shall be required to prove an actual ouster or some other act amounting to a denial of the plaintiff's title and his exclusion from the enjoyment of the property. § 16-1105. Legal title in mortgagee or trustee; possession I t is not a bar to the plaintiff's recovery in an action of ejectment that the legal title to the property claimed is outstanding in another as mortgagee or trustee under a mortgage or deed of trust to secure a debt, unless the mortgagee or trustee, or those claiming under him, has taken possession of the premises, or unless the defendant claims under the mortgagor or grantor in the deed of trust. §16-1106. Performance of contract by vendee as precluding vendor from recovery Where real property has been sold under a written contract executed by the vendor, and there has been such a performance of its terms by the vendee as would entitle him to a decree for a conveyance of the legal title, without condition, the vendor may not recover the property from the vendee. § 16-1107. Several judgments against defendants occupying distinct parcels When it appears on the trial in an action of ejectment that some of the defendants occupy distinct parcels of the property claimed, in severalty, the plaintiff, if entitled to recover, may in the discretion of the court, have several judgments against the respective parties, according to the proof of occupancy. § 16-1108. Recovery of less than is claimed The plaintiff, under a claim to certain described premises, may recover less than the whole property claimed, and, under a claim to an entire property, may recover an undivided part thereof. § 16-1109. Recovery of mesne profits and damages; separate count (a) The plaintiff may embody in his complaint, in a separate count, a claim for the: (1) mesne profits received by the defendant from the property sued for; or (2) clear value of the use and occupation of the property sued for— extending to the time of the verdict, and also damages for waste or injury to the premises during that period. (b) If the ]ury find for the plaintiff, they may, at the same time, find and assess the mesne profits, or the value of the use and occupation and the amount of damages, specified by subsection («,) of this section. Except in the case provided for by section 16-1116, there shall be rendered, besides a judgment for the recovery of the property, a judgment against the defendant for the amount so found by the jury.

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