Newberg & Anderson v. Cowan

Mississippi Supreme Court
Newberg & Anderson v. Cowan, 62 Miss. 570 (Miss. 1885)
Cooper

Newberg & Anderson v. Cowan

Opinion of the Court

Cooper, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The rule that an action for use and occupation may be maintained on a contract expressed or implied, not under seal, has been held not to apply unless the occupancy was with the consent of the ownei’, upon the ground that such assent was necessary to the creation of an implied contract of tenancy. The object of § 1323 of the Code of 1880 is to give the right ip all cases where possession is held in recognition of and not adversely to the title of the owner, and it is not necessary that there should be an implied contract arising from the consent of the owner and the expectation of the occupant to pay. The statute fixes upon the occupant of the land of another an obligation to pay so much as is reasonable for the use thereof, whether the owner knows of or consents to such occupancy or not. But the measure of recovery is the “ reasonable satisfaction for the land, etc., held or occupied by the defendant,” and not what the peculiar circumstances of the occupant may make the land worth to him. One occupying the lands of another cannot- defeat a recovery by the owner by proving that if he had not occupied them they would have remained vacant, nor can the owner recover more than the “ reasonable satisfaction ” allowed by the statute,, because *573to the occupant, situated as he was, the occupancy was worth more. It is evident that in the case at bar the inquiry was as to the value of the land to the occupant. All the evidence was directed to this point, and nothing was shown of the real value on the basis indicated.

The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded far a new trial.

Reference

Full Case Name
Newberg & Anderson v. Warren Cowan
Cited By
4 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. Use and Occupation. Action therefor. Section 1323, Code 1880, construed. Under section 1323 of the Code of 1880, which authorizes “ any landlord, when there is no contract, to recover in an action for use and occupation a reasonable satisfaction for lands, tenements, or hereditaments, held or occupied by the defendant,” it is not necessary that such action be supported by an implied contract, hut a recovery may be had if the defendant, while occupying or enjoying the property, recognized the plaintiff’s title thereto and claimed no adverse rights. 2. Same. Measure of recovery therefor. Character of evidence, under statute. The plaintiff, in such action, cannot recover more than the “ reasonable satisfaction ” provided for in the statute above referred to, by showing that the property was.peculiarly valuable to the defendant; nor can the defendant defeat a recovery by showing that if he had not occupied the property it would have remained vacant and profitless.