Donlin v. Pierce
Donlin v. Pierce
Opinion of the Court
During the month of August, 1923, plaintiff, Walter Donlin, loaned the defendant, H. D. Pierce, the sum of $225. This loan was a matter of emergency and was a great accommodation to the defendant and his family. At the time of the loan the plaintiff was rooming with the defendant, paying for the room at ’ the rate of $15 per month. Plaintiff swears that he was paying this rent in advance at the time of the making of the said loan in the month of August, 1923, and that he paid for the month of September in advance in the same manner; that on the first of October, 1923, it was agreed that he would not pay rent in cash any more but that the amount of the room rent each month would be credited and the loan thereby reduced or paid to that extent: Plaintiff evidently was not in the city of Alexandria all the time but was absent from the city at varying intervals of time.
Defendant claims that plaintiff was in the city and occupied the ■ room some of each month beginning with the month of
On the trial of the case the defendant reconvened and set up the claim that the plaintiff was indebted to the defendant in the sum of $20.50, and asked judgment in reconvention for that amount. The claims of the. defendant against the plaintiff were made up of the following items:
Ten months’ room rent from September, 1923, to June, 1924, at $15 per month, or $150;
Long distance telephone messages, $7;
Laundry paid for, $58.50;
Meals served, $30, all of which totaled $245.50.
The plaintiff, in itemizing the credits to which he admits the defendant is entitled, shows the following:
Room rent, $57.50;
Long distance telephone, $7;
Coffee, $7.25; or a total of $71.75.
In arriving at the amount of credit due the defendant for room rent the plaintiff allowed for fractions of months, which we think he should not have done. If he was in the room for part of any month, he owed rent for the entire month. He admits being in the room during all or part of the months of September, October, November, December, April and May, and no others. He claims he paid for the month of September in cash, but the defendant’s wife is positive that that month was credited on the loan. This is a reasonable inference and we prefer to think that she is correct in her statement. But in her statement as to the large sum advanced for laundry and that charged for meals, we cannot but believe that she is in error.
We cannot tell how the judge of the lower court arrived at the amount of his judgment. Giving credit for six full months’ room rent, we find that defendant is entitled to a credit of $104.25, leaving the sum of $120.75 due the plaintiff.
For the foregoing reasons it is ordered, adjudged and decreed that the judgment of the lower court be amended so as to give judgment in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant for the sum of $120.75 with interest at the rate of five per cent per annum from November 19, 1928, the defendant to pay all costs of both courts, and the judgment as thus amended is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.