Norris v. McKee
Norris v. McKee
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The forfeiture'of a lease of a hotel is involved in this appeal. The hotel was leased by plaintiff to defendant for one year, the rent payable monthly in advance, and in the lease was a stipulation that the defendant would
There is no claim that the use of the room by the printers, Day and Torrey, was extrahazardous, or more hazardous than the occupancy of the rooms by .other persons to whom rooms were assigned. The parties must have contemplated that the defendant would let rooms when he had an opportunity. It is a fact that guests frequently transact some business in the rooms of a hotel to which they have been assigned. If it be assumed that the temporary letting of the rooms to Day and Torrey was not strictly within the line of hotel business, it can hardly be regarded as within the restriction against subletting. That appears to be a restriction on the leasing of the premises — the hotel — rather than the temporary letting of a room in the hotel wherein an unusual use may be made of such room.
If it be granted that the letting of the room was within the restriction, a question -still remains whether the letting should be regarded as a forfeiture of the lease. It appears that a rental of $10 became due on June 17,1915, which was not paid, and two days later the plaintiff served a three days’ notice to quit the premises. The controlling statute provides that “if a tenant for a period of three months or longer neglect or refuse to pay the rent when due, ten days’ notice in writing to quit
In his notice plaintiff adds to the ground of nonpayment the' words “for breach of lease.” This clause may be regarded as incidental to and a part of the ground of nonpayment of rent, as the latter constitutes a breach of the lease. If plaintiff meant that the breach was something else than nonpayment of rent he should have stated what act or omission constituted the breach. The subletting of the room had occurred some time before, but, as has been observed, his notice does not specify that as a ground for forfeiture. It may be doubted whether even a' definite statement in the notice of that ground would of itself have effected a 'forfeiture. The lease stipulated that the misuse of the premises or the underletting of them should be “under penalty of forfeiture and damages.” As both forfeiture and damages are coupled in the penalty, and as damages can only be recovered in an appropriate action, it may well be doubted whether the subletting ipso facto terminated the lease.
However that may be, the plaintiff, as we have seen, practically consented to the use of the room by Day and Torrey and has waived the right to terminate the lease upon that ground. It would be an injustice to permit plaintiff to encourage Day and Torrey to occupy the room and then make it a ground of forfeiture. The law 'does not favor forfeitures,- and their effect is limited by a strict construction.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J. E. Norris v. G. W. McKee
- Cited By
- 6 cases
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- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Lease op Hotel — One-year Period — Nonpayment of Rent — Termination of Lease — Notice. Under the statute, to terminate a lease of property for a period of one year on account of the nonpayment of rent, a ten-days notice in writing to quit must he given to the tenant, and such a notice will not terminate the tenancy if the rent is paid before the expiration of the ten days. 2. Same — Covenant Not to Underlet — Oral Consent of Landlord ■ — ■ Waiver. Where a hotel is leased with the condition that the premises shall not be underlet without the writtén consent of the landlord, and the tenant temporarily rents a room of the hotel to a printer in which to set up a small printing outfit, without obtaining* such written consent, and before it is done the landlord informs the printer that he has no objection to the use of the room for that purpose, he thereby waives the right to terminate the lease because of the underletting of the room, if that be a ground of forfeiture.