Schellenber v. Frank
Schellenber v. Frank
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiffs, owners of a house in the city of Detroit, leased the same to defendant. Defendant not yielding possession at the expiration of his tenancy, proceedings to obtain possession under chapter 308, 3
The trial court directed a verdict upon the ground that their former suit on the appeal bond prevented plaintiffs from maintaining this suit. The correctness of this decision, which is challenged by plaintiffs, depends upon the construction and constitutionality of the following portion of section 25 of said chapter:
“If the complainant obtain restitution of said premises he may, at his election, sue and recover on said bond, or bring his action against the defendant, under section twenty-four of this chapter.”
It is clear that this language gives a landlord an election of remedies, and that, having successfully maintained a suit on the bond, he has not the same right, which otherwise he would have, to maintain suit under section 24. This principle is recognized by plaintiffs, but they contend that, notwithstanding the suit on the bond, they may still recover, under section 24, for such items of damages as could not be and were not recovered in the suit on the bond. According to this contention, the language, “he
Plaintiffs contend that, as thus construed, that part of section 25 which provides for an election of remedies is unconstitutional. A clear conception of the statute removes all doubt of its constitutionality. By section 24 the legislature has given the landlord a new remedy. By section 25 he is denied the right to use that remedy if he sues on the appeal bond. To assert that the legislature has no authority to compel a landlord to make such an election is to deny to the legislature authority to prescribe the conditions under which one may use a statutory remedy. The authority to prescribe such conditions is implied in the constitutional grant of authority to legislate. In our judgment, therefore, the statute is constitutional.
Some of the items of damages sought to be recovered by plaintiffs cannot be trebled, under section 24. They seek to recover compensation for those items as “other damages ” specified in said section. See Hitchcock v. Pratt, 51 Mich. 263. We are called upon to determine whether the principles of this decision permit plaintiffs to recover in this suit single damages for these items. It is idle to urge that plaintiffs might have recovered these damages at common law. According to the common law, they could not have recovered in the form of action they
It follows that the judgment of the court below should be affirmed, with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SCHELLENBER v. FRANK
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- Published