Daviu Viscal v. Frau Subirá
Daviu Viscal v. Frau Subirá
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Defendant-appellant had leased some premises on the' ground floor of a building on Reina Street in Ponce to plaintiff-appellee. Defendant-appellant filed an unlawful detainer proceeding because she needed in good faith to recover the possession for the purpose of demolishing' it in order to construct. a new building thereon, according to the drawings duly approved by the proper authorities. Plaintiff-appellee was compelled to vacate the building after the parties signed the documents for a second lease in the reconstructed building required by subsection 8 of §• 12-A, letters (f) and (g) added to Act No. .464 of April 25, 1946 — 17 L.P.R.A. § 193. As soon as the building was vacated, defendant-appellant proceeded to demolish it in whole,, although, as a result of certain inconveniences in her long' term financing plan she has' not been able to start the construction of the' hew building.
This is an action to recover the damages suffered by the tenant as a result of the eviction requested by the owner-lessor. We have carefully examined all the facts in the record and we honestly believe that no act of bad faith, negligence or intent to prejudice the plaintiff-appellee; essential ground for the action for damages which we have sanctioned in other cases, can be charged against defendant-appellant. The fact of not being able to obtain the bank financing needed for the new building is no cause for- an action for damages which seeks to protect the tenant from the bad faith, deceitful conduct or simulated enterprise used to procure the eviction of the tenant.
The case of Martínez v. Llavat, 86 P.R.R. 223, 234, 235 (Santana Becerra) (1962), on'which the decision of the trial court seems to-rely, is different. In that case the lessor
It is undeniable that in a set of facts like this one, there was margin to doubt of the good faith of the lessor, since the eviction of the tenant was procured in order to lease half of the property immediately to a new tenant who agreed to pay for the repairs. Contrary to the case of Martinez, in this case it is not established that defendant-appellant had
For the reasons stated the judgment rendered by the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, Ponce Part, on December 6, 1965, in Civil Case No. CS-63-2392 of said Part, will be reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.