Donnelly v. Frick & Lindsay Co.
Donnelly v. Frick & Lindsay Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The articles removed from the demised premises by the appellant were trade fixtures. The well settled rule, that the ten-, ant must remove them during the term, and that the right to do so ceases with its expiration, was correctly stated by the learned trial judge in his instructions to the jury. The lease to the appellant expired April 1, 1902, and the proper notice to quit had been served by the landlord. The fixtures were not removed until about the middle of April, and, if there were nothing more in the ease, the plaintiff ought to recover.
The presumption of the law, being in favor of trade, is that a tenant does not intend to make his trade fixtures part of the realty for the permanent benefit of his landlord, but will remove them before .the end of his term ; and it is only when he leaves without removing them during the term that an intention of making a gift of them to the landlord is to be imputed to him: Hill v. Sewald, 53 Pa. 271; Watts v. Lehman, 107 Pa. 106. If, during the term, no intention can be imputed to the tenant to make a gift to his landlord of fixtures, which he has attached to the land for the use of his business, and he has a light to remove them during the tenancy, the same rule ought to, and does, apply when, by permission of the landlord, even without a formal renewal or extension of the lease, he continues to remain on the premises for a definite or indefinite term. During such period, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, his intention as to his fixtures remains unchanged, and his right to remove them is unaffected by his holding over.
In the present case there was testimony from which the jury could have found that the appellant was justified in believing permission had been given by the landlord’s agent to remain upon the premises after April 1, 1902, and that the fixtures had been lawfully removed during the period of extension granted it, even if indefinite in duration. The tenant may have been mistaken as to its right to remain; but, if it was misled
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- Landlord and tenant—Distress—Trade fixtures—Presumption—Holding over. The presumption of the law, being in favor of trade, is that a tenant does not intend to make his trade fixtures part of the realty for the permanent benefit of his landlord, but will remove them before the end of his term; and it is only when he leaves without removing them during the term that an intention of making a gift of them to the landlord is to be imputed to him. The same rule applies when, by permission of the landlord, even without formal renewal or extension of the lease, the tenant continues to remain on the premises for a definite or indefinite term. During such period, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, his intention as to the fixtures remains unchanged, and his right- to remove them is unaffected by his holding over. In an action by a landlord against a former tenant to recover damages for an alleged wrongful removal of trade fixtures after the expiration of a lease, where the evidence tends to show that the agent of the landlord gave the tenant the right to remain in possession of the leased premises until another building could be procured, it is error for the court to charge that the tenant had no right to remove the fixtures during the period of holding over, if there was no “ definite and determined agreement settled,” between the parties.