Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Received, on the day of the date of the within written Indenture, from the within named mortgagee, the sum of being the consideration expressed in the same Indenture, to be paid by him to the within named mortgagor.

Witness,

therein

This Deed was acknowledged before me by named apart from her husband, to have been voluntarily executed by her, and that she was aware of the nature of the contents thereof. Dated this

day of

A.D. 19

[blocks in formation]

A LEASE is a contract whereby one party (the tenant) takes the possession of the land and all that is on it, and the other party (the landlord) gives possession of the land, and reserves (that is, agrees to take) a rent, which the tenant pays him by way of compensation.

All things usually comprehended under the words “house,” "farm," "land," "store," &c., pass to the tenant, where such words are used, unless there be an express exception. And inaccuracies as to qualities, names, measurements, or amounts, will be corrected, if there be enough in the lease to make the purposes and intentions of the parties certain. And letting to hire anything to be used carries with it all those appurtenances and accompaniments necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of the thing which belong to the letter.

A landlord is bound to put his lessee into possession with good title. If he covenants "to renew" generally, this means a renewal of the lease on the same terms, but without inserting 'n the new lease another covenant of renewal.

A landlord is under no legal obligation to repair the house, unless he expressly agrees to do so. If the house is never so much dilapidated and disfigured as to paper, paint, etc., and locks and blinds and doors and windows are out of order, and the like, the tenant can claim nothing of the landlord. Even if it becomes wholly uninhabitable by no fault of the house or of the landlord, as if it burns up, or is blown down, or if the overflow of a stream ruins a field or a farm, still the landlord is not bound to do anything, unless by special agreement.

But if the house is uninhabitable by its own fault, as if it has a noisome and unwholesome stench, or, according to one case, if it be overrun with rats, or so decayed as to be open to the weather, it would seem to be the law of this country that the tenant may leave the house; always provided, however, that the objection or defect be not one which the tenant knew or anticipated, or would have known or expected if he had made reasonable inquiry and investigation before he took his lease. And perhaps no tenant can leave his house, or refuse or abate his rent, for any objection or difficulty arising after he hires the house. But, strange to say, the important question what the tenant's rights are in such a case is still uncertain.

If the house be wholly destroyed, the tenant must still pay rent, under an ordinary lease; because the law looks upon the land as the principal thing, and the house as secondary. And not only so, but if the tenant covenants "to return and redeliver the house at the end of the term, in good order an! condition, reasonable wear and tear only excepted," he would be bound under this agreement to rebuild the house if it were burned down. But recently all well-drawn leases have clauses providing that the rent shall cease or be abated while the premises are uninhabitable from fire or any other unavoidable calamity. A similar exception is added to the clause about returning the house at the end of the lease. If this exception be in, a tenant is not bound to rebuild, even if the house be burned through the carelessness of himself or his servants.

A tenant of a room, or of a suite of chambers, is entitled to the use of all the appurtenances and accommodations which fairly go with it, as of the front door and entry, water-closets,

and of all windows, etc., proper to the enjoyment of what he hires. But an express agreement about all these things, and cellar-room, pump, and the like, is always safest.

The tenant is not bound to make general repairs without an express agreement. But he must make such as are necessary to preserve the house from injury, as from rain, if shingles or slates are blown off or glass broken. And he would be bound even for ornamental repairs, as paper and paint, under a covenant to return "in good order."

The tenant of a farm is bound, without express covenants. to manage and cultivate the same in such a manner as good husbandry and the usual course of management of such farms in his vicinity would require.

The times for payment of rent are usually specified in the lease, if not, they would be governed by the usage of the country, if there were any of sufficient distinctness and force.

A tenant under a lease which says nothing about underlet ting has a perfect right to underlet, remaining himself bound for his rent to his landlord.

A tenant is not responsible for taxes, unless it is expressly agreed in the lease that he shall be.

If there be a clause prohibiting him from underletting or assigning, and he agrees not to, nevertheless he may do so without forfeiting the land; but he will be, as before, liable for rent; and besides this, he will be responsible in an action for any damages which the landlord can show that he has sustained by such underletting.

It is usual to go further in the lease than this, and provide that such underletting shall make a forfeiture of the lease, and authorize the landlord to enter upon the premises and turn the tenant out. Where there is this covenant, if the tenant now underlets, the landlord cannot avail himself of the clause of forfeiture and afterwards hold the tenant for his rent. He may either hold him for his rent, and also for damages, or he may terminate the lease; but cannot do both. That is, if he con tinues to hold the tenant responsible for rent, he cannot prevent the tenant's letting somebody else occupy the house and pay to him (the tenant) the rent which he pays over.

A tenant of a farm, if his lease is terminated by any event which was uncertain, and which he could neither foresee nor control, is entitled to the annual crop which he sowed while his interest in and right to the farm continued.

If a lease be for a certain time, the tenant loses all right or interest in the land or premises when that time comes, and he must leave, or the landlord may turn him out at once. But he is a tenant at will, if he holds over after a lease with consent, or occupies the land or house or store without a lease but with consent and an oral bargain; and a tenant at will cannot leave, nor can he be turned out, without a notice to quit. The law on this subject is not uniform. In general, however, it is this. If rent is payable quarterly, or not more frequently, then there must be a quarter's notice. If rent is payable oftener, then the notice must be as long as the period of payment. Thus, if rent is payable monthly, there must be a month's notice; if weekly, a week's notice. But the notice must terminate on a day when the rent is payable. It may be given at any time, but operates only after the required interval or period between two payments. Thus, if a tenant whose lease terminates on the 31st of December holds over by consent, and pays rent quarterly, and the landlord wishes that he should leave the house on the last day of September, he may give notice on the preceding 30th day of June, or any day preceding that. But if he gives notice on any day before the 30th of June, the tenant will still have a right to stay until the 30th of September. Properly, the notice should specify the day, and the right day, when the tenant must leave; and should be in writing.

Where the rent is in arrear, the notice to quit may be more brief; the statutes of the different States vary on this point, but a frequent period is fourteen days. And if notice to quit is given because the rent is unpaid, it may be given at any time and will operate at the end of the period which the law desig nates; but it should specify the day on which the tenant must quit.

A tenant may give notice of his intention to quit, and generally it will be subject to the same rules already stated in reference to the notice given by a landlord. A tenant should

give his notice to the party to whom he is bound to day rent, or to an authorized agent of that party.

FIXTURES.

It is quite important that both tenant and landlord should have some knowledge of the law of fixtures; for this tells them what things the tenant may take away and what he cannot. For there are many things which a tenant may add, and afterwards remove, and many which he cannot remove. The method of affixing them may be a useful criterion, as it indicates the purpose of removal or otherwise. If with screws, or in such a way as to show that removal was intended, things may be taken away, when, if the same things were fastened more permanently, they could not be. In modern times the rule in favor of the tenant seems to extend as far as this: whatever he has added, and can remove, leaving the premises entirely restored and in as good order as if he had not removed it, that he may take away. Among the things held to be removable, in different adjudged cases, are these: ornamental chimneypieces; coffee-mills; cornices screwed on; furnaces; fire-frames; stoves; iron backs to chimneys; looking-glasses; pumps; gates; rails and posts; barns or stables on blocks.

Among those held not removable are these: barns fixed in the ground; benches fastened to the house; trees, plants, and hedges, not belonging to a gardener by trade; conservatory strongly affixed; glass windows; locks and keys.

But almost every one of these might be removable, or not, according to the intent of the parties, and the rule above stated, of removableness with or without injury.

If a man sells a house, the law of fixtures is construed far more severely against him than against a tenant who leaves a house; that is, the seller must permit the buyer to hold a great many things which an outgoing tenant might remove. Of course, a seller may take what he will from his house before he sells it, or make what bargain the parties choose to make about the fixtures. But if he makes no such bargain, and sells the house, he cannot then take from the house what a tenant whe put them there might take.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »