In law, possession is the control a person intentionally exercises toward a thing. In all cases, to possess something, a person must have an intention to possess it. A person may be in possession of some property (although possession does not always imply ownership). Like ownership, the possession of things is commonly regulated by states under property law.
Distraint or distress is “the seizure of someone’s property in order to obtain payment of rent or other money owed”, especially in common law countries.[1] Distraint is the act or process “whereby a person (the distrainor), traditionally even without prior court approval, seizes the personal property of another located upon the distrainor’s land in satisfaction of a claim, as a pledge for performance of a duty, or in reparation of an injury.”[2] Distraint typically involves the seizure of goods (chattels) belonging to the tenant by the landlord to sell the goods for the payment of the rent. In the past, distress was often carried out without court approval. Today, some kind of court action is usually required,[3]