permissive waste

noun

1. : destruction of or damage to property that is caused by the act or omission of one (as a lessee, mortgagor, or life tenant) having a lesser estate and is usually to the injury of another (as an heir, mortgagee, or remainderman) with an interest in the same property an action for waste

   — ameliorating waste
   : waste that leads to improvement of property (as by clearing the way for rebuilding something) — called also ameliorative waste

   — permissive waste
   : waste caused by the failure of a tenant to take ordinary or proper care of the property

   — voluntary waste
   : waste caused by the intentional commission of a destructive act by a tenant

2. : a reduction of the value of assets (as in a trust) caused by a failure to exercise proper care or sound judgment in managing them; especially : a transfer of corporate assets (as through excessive executive compensation or a merger) for no legitimate business purpose or for less than what a person of ordinary sound business judgment would consider to be adequate consideration the essence of a claim of waste of corporate assets is the diversion of corporate assets for improper or unnecessary purposes —Michelson v. Duncan, 407 A.2d 211 (1979) : a transfer of corporate assets (as through excessive executive compensation or a merger) for no legitimate business purpose or for less than what a person of ordinary sound business judgment would consider to be adequate consideration the essence of a claim of waste of corporate assets is the diversion of corporate assets for improper or unnecessary purposes —Michelson v. Duncan, 407 A.2d 211 (1979)