United States v. Rodríguez Moreno
United States v. Rodríguez Moreno
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Relying on the Federal Housing and Rent Act of 1947,
The defendants answered admitting that the first-mentioned defendant owns the building in question as well as that on July 1 said defendant leased the said apartment to Juan Lorenzo Rodriguez for a $69 monthly rent and that they have given him receipts for that amount covering the months from July to September of that year. And as special defenses they contended that the lower court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the action for treble damages; that the complaint fails to state facts constituting a cause of action; that the plaintiff has not exhausted the administrative proceedings ; that the maximum legal rent that the defendants may. charge for the apartment amounts to $69 per month inasmuch as seasonably and in accordance with the Act the $60 original rent was increased 15 per cent by virtue of a written contract voluntarily entered into by them and the former lessee, Antonio Chávez; that they have acted in good faith and that the local officials of the Office of the Housing Expediter instituted this action as an act of retaliation upon the defendant Rodriguez Moreno. In a separate writing they also moved for the dismissal of the petition for a preliminary injunction.
After a pre-trial conference, during which documentary
Several days later the plaintiff filed a “Motion Requesting that the Preliminary Injunction Be Amended and Submitting the Case for the Permanent Injunction.” After stating that the lower court had granted a preliminary injunction in connection with the rent of apartment No. 23, it was alleged therein that an error had been involuntarily committed when drawing up the judgment since the plaintiff understood that the court had intended that the preliminary injunction decree be drafted as expressed in the opinion, “namely, enjoining the defendants from violating the provisions of the Federal Housing and Rent Act and Regulations and not confining its order to apartment No. 23,” and the case was submitted as to the permanent injunction sought. The defendants objected to the first part of that motion. A few days later the court overruled the petition for amendment and set the permanent injunction for hearing. It then issued a permanent injunction against the defendants, but still limiting it to the aforesaid apartment.
A superficial reading of the complaint convinces us that plaintiff’s, purpose was that the injunction to be issued should not be limited to apartment No. 23, but one enjoining defendants from violating in any manner whatsoever the provisions of the Federal Housing and Rent Act. As to this there is not the least doubt. However, the plaintiff limited his evidence to the defendants’ collecting rent in excess of that fixed for the said apartment and to other violations of the Federal Housing and Rent Act, of a similar nature, committed subsequent to the date the complaint was filed. The defendants objected to and the court rejected the latter evidence. We need not decide whether it was admissible, since the plaintiff does not raise on appeal any question regarding said rejection. Consequently, although the only evidence before the court referred to the collection of rents in excess of the amount fixed for apartment 23, the court a quo erred in limiting the permanent injunction to said apartment. As stated by the Supreme Court of the United States in Labor Board v. Express Pub. Co., 312 U. S. 426, 435, 85 L. ed. 930, 937:
“. . . The mere fact that a court has found that a defendant has committed an act in violation of a statute does not justify an injunction broadly to obey the statute and thus subject the defendant to contempt proceedings if he shall at any time in the future commit some new violation unlike and unrelated to that with which he was originally charged. This Court will strike from an injunction decree restraints upon the commission of unlawful acts which are thus dissociated from those which a defendant has committed. (Citations.)
“It is a salutary principle that when one has been found to have committed acts in violation of a law he may be restrained from committing other related unlawful acts . . .
“. . . To justify an order restraining other violations it*462 must appear that they bear some resemblance to that which the employer has committed or that danger of their commission in the future is to be anticipated from the course of his conduct in the past. . . .” (Italics ours.)
See also May Stores Co. v. Labor Board, 326 U. S. 376, 90 L. ed. 145; New York, N. H. & H.R. Co. v. Interstate Com. Commission, 200 U. S. 361, 50 L. ed. 515; Bowles v. Luster, 153 F. 2d 382, 383; Bowles v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 143 F. 2d 38, 42; Bowles v. May Hardwood Co., 140 F. 2d 914, 916; Bowles v. Howell Realty Co., 59 F. Supp. 921; Bowles v. Miller, 18 N. W. 2d 285; Wood v. Corsey, 89 C. A. 2d 105, 114; 200 P. 2d 208, 213. The foregoing principle is, in our judgment, a correct statement of the law. In the case at bar, as will be recalled, the evidence admitted by the lower court showed that the defendants had collected during three different months rent in excess to that officially fixed to the apartment in question. Therefore, once the court a quo arrived at the conclusion that a permanent injunction lay, it should not have limited said decree to the aforesaid apartment. Rather it should have made it applicable to any violation committed by the defendants, of the same kind, type or nature as their previous violations.
The second error assigned was also committed. In the complaint, not only a writ of injunction was prayed for, but also restitution of the rent collected in excess during the three months to which it referred, and treble damages. Both in their answer and during the pre-trial conference the defendants insisted that said court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the claim for restitution and treble damages, the court pointing out that it was taking the question thus raised under advisement. Nevertheless, in disposing of the case by means of a permanent injunction, the court did not decide the problem thus raised. It was its duty to do so in the first instance. However, in order to avoid the return of this case to this Court for jurisdictional reasons, we declare that in
The judgment appealed from will be reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.
61 Stat. 193, 50 U.S.C. App. (Supp. Ill) § § 1881 et seq. Section 206 of that Act recites:
“(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to demand, accept, receive, or retain any rent for the use or occupancy of any controlled housing accommodations in excess of the maximum rent prescribed under this Act, or otherwise to do or omit to do any act, in violation of this Act, or of any regulation or order or requirement under this Act, or to offer, solicit, attempt, or agree to do any of the foregoing.”
“(6) Whenever in the judgment of the President (the original Section said Housing Expediter) any person has engaged or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of any provision of this Act, or any regulation or order issued thereunder, the United States may make application to any Federal, State, or Territorial court of competent jurisdiction for an order enjoining such acts or practices, or for an order enforcing compliance with such provision, and upon a showing that such person has engaged or is about to engage in any such acts or practices a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order shall be granted without bond.”
This is disclosed by the record before us.
The permanent injunction was issued on the basis of the evidence previously submitted to the court.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.