What is "lease and release"

Lease \Lease\ (l[=e]s), n. [Cf. OF. lais. See Lease, v. t.]

1. The temporary transfer of a possession to another person in return for a fee or other valuable consideration paid for the transfer; especially, A demise or letting of lands, tenements, or hereditaments to another for life, for a term of years, or at will, or for any less interest than that which the lessor has in the property, usually for a specified rent or compensation.

2. The contract for such letting.

3. Any tenure by grant or permission; the time for which such a tenure holds good; allotted time.

   Our high-placed Macbeth Shall live the lease of nature.
   --Shak.

   Lease and release a mode of conveyance of freehold estates, formerly common in England and in New York. its place is now supplied by a simple deed of grant.
   --Burrill.
   --Warren's Blackstone.

Release \Re*lease"\, n.

1. The act of letting loose or freeing, or the state of being let loose or freed; liberation or discharge from restraint of any kind, as from confinement or bondage. ``Who boast'st release from hell.''
   --Milton.

2. Relief from care, pain, or any burden.

3. Discharge from obligation or responsibility, as from debt, penalty, or claim of any kind; acquittance.

4. (Law) A giving up or relinquishment of some right or claim; a conveyance of a man's right in lands or tenements to another who has some estate in possession; a quitclaim.
   --Blackstone.

5. (Steam Engine) The act of opening the exhaust port to allow the steam to escape.

6. (Mach.) A device adapted to hold or release a device or mechanism as required; specif.: (Elec.) A catch on a motor-starting rheostat, which automatically releases the rheostat arm and so stops the motor in case of a break in the field circuit; also, the catch on an electromagnetic circuit breaker for a motor, which acts in case of an overload.

7. (Phon.) The act or manner of ending a sound.

8. (Railroads) In the block-signaling system, a printed card conveying information and instructions to be used at intermediate sidings without telegraphic stations.

   Lease and release. (Law) See under Lease.

   Out of release, without cessation. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   Syn: Liberation; freedom; discharge. See Death.

Lease and release is literally the lease (tenancy) of non-tenanted property by its owner followed by a release (relinquishment) of the landlord's interest in the property. This sequence of transactions was commonly used to transfer full title to real estate under real property law. Lease and release was a mode of conveyance of freehold estates formerly common in England and in New York for tax avoidance and speed. Between its parties it achieves the same outcome as a deed of grant/transfer/conveyance.