REPLEVIN
replevin (ri-plev-in), n.1. An action for the repossession of personal property wrongfully
taken or detained by the defendant, whereby the plaintiff gives security for and holds the property
until the court decides who owns it. — Also termed claim and delivery. [Cases: Replevin 1.
C.J.S. Replevin §§ 2–7.] 2. A writ obtained from a court authorizing the retaking of personal
property wrongfully taken or detained. — Also termed (in sense 2) writ of replevin. Cf. DETINUE;
TROVER. [Cases: Replevin 34.C.J.S. Replevin § 60.]
“The action of replevin lies, where specific personal property has been wrongfully taken and
is wrongfully detained, to recover possession of the property, together with damages for its
detention. To support the action it is necessary: (a) That the property shall be personal. (b) That the
plaintiff, at the time of suit, shall be entitled to the immediate possession. (c) That (at common law)
the defendant shall have wrongfully taken the property (replevin in the cepit). But, by statute in
most states, the action will now also lie where the property is wrongfully detained, though it was
lawfully obtained in the first instance (replevin in the detinet). (d) That the property shall be
wrongfully detained by the defendant at the time of suit.” Benjamin J. Shipman, Handbook of
Common-Law Pleading§ 49, at 120 (Henry Winthrop Ballantine ed., 3d ed. 1923).
“In rare cases, the plaintiff might seek equitable relief to secure return of a chattel. More
commonly, the claim for recovery of the chattel was pursued at common law under forms of
action such as Detinue or Replevin. American statutes or court rules tracked the common law
generally, referring to the recovery variously as replevin, detinue, claim-and-delivery, or
sequestration. The statutes usually allowed the plaintiff to recover the disputed chattel before trial,
though this is now subject to constitutional limits which have led to procedural revisions in many
of the statutes.” 1 Dan B. Dobbs, Law of Remedies § 5.17(1), at 917 (2d ed. 1993).
personal replevin.At common law, an action to replevy a person out of prison or out of
another’s custody. • Personal replevin has been largely superseded by the writ of habeas corpus as
a means of investigating the legality of an imprisonment. See HABEAS CORPUS.
replevin in cepit (in see-pit). An action for the repossession of property that is both
wrongfully taken and wrongfully detained. [Cases: Replevin 9. C.J.S. Replevin §§ 28–29.]
replevin in detinet (in det-i-net). An action for the repossession of property that is rightfully
taken but wrongfully detained. [Cases: Replevin 9. C.J.S. Replevin §§ 28–29.]
replevin,vb. Archaic. REPLEVY. [Blacks Law 8th]