Overreaching Interest is a term in English land law.
Overreaching can only exist where a trust is in existence and a property is sold.It occurs when the purchaser paid to at least two trustees in monies. The occupiers of a property in such a situation cannot then claim that their occupation of the property is an overriding interest, as the joint trustees have brought that occupation to a close through the sale of the property.
By purchasing the property from trustees, under Section 2 of the Law of Property Act 1925, the occupation rights of any other party are automatically extinguished. If such a party claims an overriding interest in the land, that interest is converted by attaching a monetary interest to the land - e.g. a purchase price, and the interest claimed by the party is 'overreached', this conversion is often referred to as the doctrine of Equitable conversion.
If only one owner exists, then there is a risk that a third party could claim occupation, and overreaching cannot apply.
The issues of overreaching and overriding interests are often closely linked, and the case of Birmingham Midshires v Sabherwal examined both issues.
Read more about Overreaching Interest: See Also
Famous quotes containing the words overreaching and/or interest:
“Americans are overreaching; overreaching is the most admirable and most American of the many American excesses.”
—George F. Will (b. 1941)
“A man’s interest in the world is only the overflow from his interest in himself. When you are a child your vessel is not yet full; so you care for nothing but your own affairs. When you grow up, your vessel overflows; and you are a politician, a philosopher, or an explorer and adventurer. In old age the vessel dries up: there is no overflow: you are a child again.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)