Warner v. Tanner
Warner v. Tanner
Opinion of the Court
In the court of common pleas, the jury was charged, that the instrument executed by the parties was not a lease at will, nor for years, nor of perpetual duration; “ that said lease is not real property ; ” that it “ was a lease which continued and run for an indefinite and unlimited period, and so long as the lessee, or his assigns or personal representatives, should use the property covered by said lease for the purpose of manufacturing cheese thereonthat upon the death of 'Bartlett, the interest passed to his administrator and not his heir ; and that the administrator could maintain a suit against the Tanners in the nature of an action of trover for the conversion of the fixtures and the lease. To state such a position is to refute it. The only instance of a similar action which I remember, was met in Railroad Co. v. Robbins, 35 Ohio St. 531.
Leases may be at will, for years, for life, or of perpetual duration. Foltz v. Huntley, 7 Wend. 210; Taylor’s Land. & T. § 72. Indeed, they may be made for any period which will not exceed the interest of the lessor in the premises. And whatever the term, it may be subject to a condition, which is a qualification annexed to the estate by the grantor (Sperry v. Pond, 5 Ohio, 387; s. c., 24 Am. Dec. 296), or lessor (Foltz v. Huntley, supra), whereby the estate or term granted may, among other things, be defeated or terminated.
In this case the question as to the rights and interest which Bartlett acquired under the instrument, is one of construction. The fact that he was required to and did place upon the premises valuable structures, which he could only remove when the premises were no longer used for the manufacture of cheese thereon, satisfies us that this was not a lease at will nor a lease from year to year. On the other hand, the instrument
The administrator of Bartlett had no right of action, except with respect to property merely personal, which may have remained on the premises when this suit was brought; nor had he a right of action with respect to such personal property, unless the Tanners converted it to their own use. Leases of land of a chattel quality are chattels real, and go to the administrator ; in other words, all interests for a definite space, measured by years, months or days, are deemed chattel interests, and, in
Judgment affirmed.
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