New Orleans v. Campbell
New Orleans v. Campbell
Opinion of the Court
It becomes necessary at the outset to inquire whether property sought to be affected by the tax liens and judicial mort
To do this it is necessary to determine the nature and character of the lessee’s rights in the land and improvements made by himself upon it, because it will not be for a moment pretended that the property of the lessor, even if taxable as against him, is in any measure responsible for the taxes assessed against or due by the lessee. In France it has often been held under provisions of law very similar to our own that if a lessee has erected buildings on the soil leased by virtue of a clause in the contract, his right on such building is limited to a mere movable right of enjoyment and is not susceptible of mortgage.
“II ne suffit pas q’un bail soit a longues années pourqu’il etre consideré comme emphyteotíque. Ainsi celui qui sur un terrain pris á ferme pour 27 ans, a elevé des constructions en vertu d’une clause du contrat, n’a sur les constructions qu’un droit de juissance mobiliére par sa nature, et par consequent non susceptible d’hypothéque. ” Dalloz Jurisprudence, vol. 19, p. 61, sect. 4 verbo Louage. See also Troplong contrat de louage, No. 19, et sequentes, on the same subject.
In the case of Miller v. Michaud, 11 Rob. 225, the court say we think, under our laws, a similar doctrine can safely be adopted; again, “If the lessee of a naked lot erect houses upon it with his own materials, the buildings, presumed to belong to the owner of the soil, would only give the lessee the right at the expiration of the lease to claim from the lessor the value of the materials and price of workmanship” (or as we have seen under Art. 2726, a fair value). The buildings would be his (the lessee’s) only in this sense, that he would have the dominium utile of the whole premises during the lease and be entitled to this compensation at its close, and as he would be bound to consider the buildings- as belonging to the owner of the soil, how could he alienate them ? What title could he transfer to another? The same kind of title which he has, to wit, the right of claiming compensation or taking the buildings away if the owner did not choose to keep them; and surely this kind of right is not susceptible of being mortgaged. It is immaterial, then, whether the right of Campbell was a mere right of enjoyment, movable in its nature, as considered in 11 R. and in France, or what is termed a real right — it is not immovable — not a usufruct, and not mortgageable. 18 A. 513.
Judgment reversed and for plaintiffs in rule.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- New Orleans v. G. W. Campbell, S. & A. W. Smith, Plantiffs in Rule
- Status
- Published