What is the specific meaning of Breaching the peace?

Answer 1

Any act of molesting or interrupting or hindering or disquieting or agitating or arousing from a state of repose or otherwise depriving inhabitants of the peace and quiet to which they are entitled. Lenders know that once a loan goes into default, a secured creditor can recover the collateral from a debtor either by judicial foreclosure or self-help repossession. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) allows a creditor to utilize the remedy of repossession so long as it can be accomplished without a breach of the peace. The definition of the breach of the peace is left to the courts and the definition has evolved over time and is not the same in all jurisdictions. Importantly, some courts have held that if the breach of the peace is of such an extreme nature that involves wanton and reckless disregard of the property rights of another, the creditor maybe liable for punitive damages. Please keep in mind that concept of breach of the peace only is applicable in the situations where a creditor has decided to utilize the self-help provisions of the UCC or similar state statutes. It does not apply if self-help is not available or is prohibited by state law. Check your state statutes prior to attempting to repossess any collateral. The common belief is that a breach of the peace only occurs if there is some sort of confrontation, usually involving physical interaction, such as a heated argument between the party attempting the repossession and debtor. The current case law does not limit a breach of the peace to only such situations. The trend established by recent court cases is that self-help repossessions are not favored by the courts and the list of actions that have been determined to be a breach of the peace has been expanded. Although some creditors undertake to repossess the collateral themselves, the common practice is to utilize a professional "repo man" to located and retrieve the collateral. The collateral in many instances is an automobile, but any personal property may be the subject of a repossession attempt. In most jurisdictions, the repo man or a repossession company is considered an "independent contractor" and normally an employer is not liable for the unauthorized or unlawful actions of the independent contractor. There is no specific written definition of BOP, it is a matter for case law.