Muller v. Rittersville Hotel Co.
Muller v. Rittersville Hotel Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
By a writing dated April 24, 1909, the Rittersville Hotel Company, the owner of a park, leased a building in it to the appellees for a term of five years, with the privilege of renewing for a further term of the same duration. The parts of the writing which are material in passing upon the question involved in this proceeding are as follows: “The lessor.hereby agrees to sell to the lessees, and the lessees agree to buy from the lessor the caroussel with all its appurtenances now contained in said casino, and to replace it with another as below mentioned, and the lessees agree to pay for the same the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars ($3500), which shall
The contract or agreement between the appellant and appellees is free from all ambiguity, and was, therefore, for the interpretation of the court below. By the intention of the parties to it, as expressed in it, both are bound; Quoties in verbis nulla est ambiguitas, ibi nulla expositio contra verba fienda est. Two specific matters are the subjects of the agreement — the one the leasing of the building to the appellees; the other the absolute sale to them of the caroussel. Immediately after the clause leasing the building this follows: “The lessor hereby agrees to sell to the lessees, and the lessees agree to buy from the lessor the caroussel with all its appurtenances now contained in said casino, and to replace ft with another as below mentioned, and the lessees agree to ' pay for the same the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars ($3500).” Then follows: “The caroussel to be the property of the lessor until the full amount is paid.” After the full amount of the purchase money for the caroussel was paid, it became the unquestioned property of the appellees, and, having become so, the lessors gave them permission to remove it from the demised premises at the end of the term. Why such permission, if it was the intention of the parties that the caroussel should form a part Of the leasehold, for if, as appellant contends, it did form a part of the same, it would have been a fixture, which would have become the property of the lessor at the end of the term. Again, why the clause ■ providing that the new caroussel should not be removed during the term without the written consent of the lessor? This would not have been inserted if it was the intention of the parties to the agreement that the caroussel was to be a- part of the leasehold. This clause was,
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Muller v. Rittersville Hotel Company
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Landlord and tenant — Construction of lease — Fixtures—Amusement park — Caroussel. Where the owner of an amusement park leases a casino building in it for a term of years with the right to repurchase the leasehold at a sum stated and within a fixed time before the expiration of the lease, and the lease further provides for a sale to the lessee of a caroussel in the casino to be paid for in instalments, the property to be in the lessor until the full amount is paid, and also provides that the lessee shall build a new caroussel which shall not be removed without the written consent of the lessor during the term, and the lessee pays for the old caroussel and builds the new caroussel, the lessor, on exercising its right to repurchase the leasehold, cannot claim the new caroussel as appurtenant to the •leasehold, and the lessee has a right to remove it under a provision of the lease which gives him the right to remove his property at the end of the term.