Baxter v. Maull
Baxter v. Maull
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This is a suit to recover rent. Judgment was entered against plaintiff for want of a sufficient statement of claim. He avers that defendant occupied his house two years under a written lease and then moved without giving notice; that the second year’s occupation was “with the consent of the plaintiff,” but that her removal was without having given “three months’ written notice prior to October 8, 1915, the expiration of the then current term, of her intention to terminate the lease and remove from the premises”; and that the failure to give such notice rendered her liable for a third year’s rent. Accordingly, after a third year, plaintiff brought this suit for another year’s rent less what he received for part of the year from another tenant obtained by him.
The premises were demised “for the term of one year from the eighth day of October, A. D. 1913, at the monthly rent of seventy-five dollars......” The lease also provided: “Seventh. If the lessee shall continue in the occupation of the said demised premises after the expiration of the term hereby created with the consent of
Notice of intention to remove at the end of the first year was unnecessary: MacGregor v. Rawle, 57 Pa. 184; was such notice necessary to terminate the lease at the end of the second year?
The averment is that “after the expiration of the term” of one year first specified in the lease, the tenant remained a second year pursuant to plaintiff’s consent that defendant should so remain “for the term of another year.” Plaintiff now contends that this second definite term of one year was not based upon that consent, but was based on the failure to terminate the relation of landlord and tenant “by either party hereto giving to the other not less than three months’ written notice for removal prior to the expiration of the then current term” (supra).
We agree with the learned court below that notice was not necessary prior to the end of the second term and that the case is ruled by Ashhurst v. Phonograph Co., 166 Pa. 357, where premises were demised “for the term of one year” with the provision, “It is hereby further agreed that if the lessee shall hold over after the expiration of the term hereby created, with the consent of the
Judgment affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting Opinion by
The determination of the question raised by this appeal is dependent solely upon the construction of the covenants of a written contract. The lease, in its first paragraph, was for a definite term of one year, and the covenants fixing the rights of the parties in case the tenant continued to occupy the premises after the expiration of that term are contained in the seventh paragraph, which is as follows:
“Seventh — If the lessee shall continne in the occupation of the said demised premises after the expiration of the term hereby created, with the consent of the lessor, it shall be deemed a renewal of this lease, and all the covenants, terms and conditions herein contained for the term of another year and so on from year to year until the lease is terminated by either party hereto giving to the other not less than three months’ written notice for removal prior to the expiration of the then current term.”
The learned judge of the court below held that this covenant did not require the defendant to give three months’ notice of her intention to remove from the premises at the end of the second year and upon that ground entered judgment in favor of the defendant. This court
The purpose of the introduction of a covenant that, when a tenant holds over or continues to occupy the premises after the expiration of a term certain, the contract shall continue in force for another year, and so on from year to year, was commented upon by Judge Sharswood, whose opinion was adopted by the Supreme Court in MacGregor v. Rawle, 57 Pa. 184. “It was meant for the benefit of the tenant, and to protect him from the operation of the rule established in Hemphill v. Flynn, 2 Barr 144, where it was held that if the tenant holds over after the expiration of a term certain, the landlord at his election, before receiving rent, can treat him as a trespasser or tenant, but it is not competent •for the tenant to elect himself to be a trespasser, to move out whenever he pleases, and pay rent only for the time he occupies.” It was there held that, under a lease containing such a covenant, the landlord was not required to give three months’ notice prior to the expiration of the term certain; that it was sufficient if he demanded possession on or before the day the term expired, but, in the absence of such demand, if the tenant continued in possession, he could not be turned out by the landlord until the end of a year, and then only on three months’ previous notice, “in other words, he became a tenant from year to year.” When the covenant merely provides that a tenant holding over shall hold for another year and so on from year to year, without saying anything about notice by the tenant of his intention to remove, the tenant is not required to give such notice, although, in such a case, th'e landlord must give.three months’ notice to quit, in case it has become a tenancy from year to year. When, however, the lease contains a covenant that if the lessee shall continue in the occupation of the premises after the expiration of the term certain, it shall be deemed a renewal of the lease for the term of another year and so on from year to year, until
This defendant did hold over, continue in the occupation of the premises, after the expiration of the term certain created by the lease, and such occupancy during that second year was subject to the covenant above quoted. If the provision of the covenant requiring each of the parties to give notice of an intention to terminate the tenan.cy at the end of the then current term did not apply to the first year during which she held over (the second of the tenancy), when was that provision to take effect? The purpose of the covenant was to define the rights of the parties in the event of a holding over after the term certain and the time during which it was to be effective was “for the term of another year and so on from year to year until the lease is terminated by either party hereto giving to the other not less than three months’ written notice for removal prior to the expiration of the then current term.” The words “and so on from year to year,” constitute a short mode of repeating the previous sentence indefinitely. Written out in full, the time during which the covenant was to be enforced, would be, and from and after the expiration of the second term hereby created, this lease shall be deemed to
This case is, in my opinion, distinguishable from Ashhurst v. Phonograph Co., 166 Pa. 357. In that case the time during which the covenant was to be effective was thus defined by the lease:
“If the lessee shall hold over after the expiration of. the term hereby created, with the consent of the lessors, it shall be deemed and taken to be a renewal of this lease and all the terms, etc., herein contained, for the term of another year and so on, if the possession is still continued with like consent, after the expiration of this additional year, from year to year, unless either party shall give three months’, previous notice to the other of an intention to terminate the tenancy at the end of any year.”
The judgment should, in my opinion, be reversed and the record remitted for further proceedings.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.