Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. 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. Distraint is the act or process "whereby a person, 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." Distraint typically involves the seizure of goods belonging to the tenant by the landlord to sell the goods for the payment of the rent.