RECEIVER (OF. reeevour, receveur, Fr. re ceccur, from recevoir, to receive, from Lat. re ripere, to receive). An indifferent person be tween the parties to a litigation appointed by a court of equity to take charge of and preserve property or money involved in the litigation, and to collect the rents, issues, and profits thereof pending a final disposition of the controversy. A receiver is an officer of the court. Property placed in his care is regarded as being in, custodia Icqis, to he administered by him under direction of the court; and it thus is not subject to other judicial process, and jurisdiction cannot be ac quired over it by other courts having concurrent jurisdiction over the subject of the suit. See JURISDICTION.
The appointment of a receiver is one of the im portant forms of the preventive remedy exercised by courts of equity, and is of great benefit when there is danger that property which is the subject of judicial controversy may be wasted, destroyed. or removed from the jurisdiction of the court pending the litigation. By the appointment of a receiver the court insures its preservation and final appropriation as its decree may direct. As the mere legal custody of the receiver is suffi cient for this purpose, he acquires no title o• lien upon the property. He is a ministerial officer, and in general his powers are those only which are granted by the order or decree appointing him. If acting within his powers he has some discretion and may exercise his judgment as to the manner of their exercise. In that case he is not liable for errors of judgment, hut if negligent or acting outside his authority, he is personally liable for his misconduct. When in doubt as to his powers he may apply to the court for author ity and directions as to their use. A creditor or other interested party may also apply to the court for modification of the order appointing the re ceiver or for supplementary orders to govern his conduct, or in a proper case for an order remov ing him. In general a receiver has no authority to sue unless directed by the court to bring an action; and action may not be brought against him without the express authority of the court.
He is deemed to have implied authority to employ counsel when reasonable and proper. The powers and duties of receivers are now generally regu lated by statute or to some extent by rules of court.
The following are the more important eases in which a receiver will be appointed, although the classification is not exclusive: ( 1) When there is no present legal owner of property involved in the proceeding, although the parties to the litigation are equitably entitled to it, as in ease of an intes tate's personal property. The same relief is now generally obtained by the appointment of a tem porary administrator. (2) When the legal owner is incompetent to manage his property, as in ease of infancy or lunacy, and there is no guardian or commission having legal authority to protect the property. In most jurisdictions guardians of in fants and committees of lunatics have statutory authority sufficient to render the appointment of a receiver in such cases unnecessary. See GUARDIAN. (3) When the litigants are equally entitled to the custody of the property and justice requires that neither one should be permitted to control it to the exclusion of the other, and circumstances do not permit their joint control, as in the ease of the dissolution and winding up of a partnership or the partition of real estate. (4) When the title or possession of property is held by one in a fiduciary capacity or relation who is not properly performing his trust, as a mortgagor in an ac tion to foreclose a mortgage, a trustee in an action for an accounting, or one having property claimed in a judgment creditors' action. (.5) When the appointment of a receiver is necessary to assist in carrying out the decree of the court, as where in judgment creditors' actions, in order to satisfy the judgment, a receiver is required to sell the property conveyed in fraud of creditors.