Golden Press, Inc. v. Rylands case brief

Golden Press, Inc. v. Rylands
Property Law Case Brief

Case Overview:
Rylands (P) sued when Golden Press (D) constructed a building whose foun- dations extended onto Rylands’s land.

Case Facts:
-Golden Press constructed a building for business purposes on land adjacent to Rylands’s property. -The foundations of the building extended about three and a half inches onto Rylands’s land.
-Rylands claimed trespass and sued for an injunction requiring Golden Press to remove the intruding portions of the foundation.

Issue:
Should the court issue as a matter of course an injunction requiring the removal of an intruding structure even when the intrusion is slight and un- derground?

Holding:
The court should not issue such an injunction as a matter of course.

Reasoning:
The courts have often refused to grant injunctions against slight and harmless encroachments upon a neighbor’s land because of the de minimis principle. Even jurisdictions that purport to observe a strict rule against permanent trespasses have carved out numerous exceptions to that rule. Where the trespass is unintentional, the courts should balance the nature of the harm and the cost of the remedy to reach an equitable solution.

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