Hammond Savings & Trust Co. v. Boney
Opinion
Caldwell, P. J.
It is conceded by appellant that the only questions presented on this appeal are that the decision and finding of the court are not sustained by sufficient evidence, and are contrary to law. There is no great conflict in the evidence. The radical difference between the parties is respecting its legal effect. The facts are substantially as follows: On January 1, 1907, and at all other times mentioned in the record, Anton H. Tapper was the owner of a certain business block in the city of Hammond, consisting of three stories and a basement; on said day, Tapper, by an instrument in writing, leased the ground floor of. said block to [297] The MeAvoy Brewing Company of Chicago for a term of three years, ending January 1, 1910. In February, 1907, the brewing company, by parol, and with the consent of Tapper, sublet the room to appellee, who thereupon entered into possession, and used it in the business of operating a saloon for the retail of intoxicating liquors. The fixtures and furnishings were owned by the brewing company. The lease so executed to the brewing company contained the following provisions:
“At the expiration of this lease, or on failure to pay rent when same is due, or on failure to comply with any of the conditions of this lease, the same shall terminate at once, without notice, and the said Anton H. Tapper, his representatives and. assigns may enter' on and take possession of said premises, and expel the occupant thereof, without in any wise being a trespasser, and a failure of said Anton H. Tapper to take possession of said premises at the time aforesaid, shall not estop him from afterwards asserting said rights, and the occupation of said premises by the said tenant after the expiration of said lease, or the forfeiture thereof, shall give him no rights as tenant, but he may be expelled at any time without notice.”
At the time of the execution of the lease, Tapper endorsed on the back of it his signed consent that the room might be sublet at any time within the granted term. On July 8, 1909, Tapper executed to appellant an instrument in writing, by which he leased the room to appellant for a term of ten years, commencing January 1, 1910, to be used in conducting a banking and trust company business'. This lease was properly executed and acknowledged before a notary public, and was duly recorded in the recorder’s office of Lake County, on July 27, 1909. Prior to January 1, 1910, Tapper notified the brew[298] ing company by letter that he 'expected the room to be surrendered at the expiration of the company’s lease on January 1, 1910. Appellee apparently had knowledge that such notice had been given, and prior to said date negotiated with Tapper and the company with a view to leasing another room owned by the former, and on which the latter apparently had some claim. The question of the procuring of such other room by appellee remained in doubt for sometime, and resulted finally in its being leased to another party. Appellee insisted that he had made some sort of an arrangement by which he was to occupy the room in question after January 1, 1910. He claimed that when the brewing company sublet the room to him,, its agent stated that he might occupy it indefinitely if the rent was paid. He had actual as well as constructive knowledge of the execution of the ten-year lease to appellant, but did not claim that any arrangement was made with appellant for the occupancy of the room by him after January 1. At the trial, appellee testified that Tapper in January, 1910, gave him permission to occupy the room after the first of that month. The brewing company refused to accept the installment of rent for January, and thereupon on two occasions, appellee tendered such installment to Tapper, who refused it. There was evidence that in January, Tapper, on several occasions, demanded that appellee vacate the room. Appellee’s somewhat cloudy claim to the right to occupy the room is made rather more definite by an affidavit filed by him in this proceeding, in support of his motion to dissolve a temporary restraining order, hereinafter mentioned, wherein he stated in substance that after January 1, 1910, he was in possession of the room pursuant to an oral agreement made with the brewing company and a subsequent oral agreement [299] made with. Tapper; that by the former he leased the room from the brewing company for three years, with the privilege of five “according to the terms of the lease made by and between the said Anton H. Tapper, the owner thereof, and the said McAvoy Brewing Company”; that having later ascertained that the lease to the brewing company was only for the term of three years, and consequently that the company did not have the power to sublet the room for a longer term, there was an agreement made between him and Tapper, by which they would arrange “as between themselves for the rent of the premises until the first day of February, 1910”, being the time of the expiration of his county license to retail intoxicating liquor.
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Caldwell, P. J.
It is conceded by appellant that the only questions presented on this appeal are that the decision and finding of the court are not sustained by sufficient evidence, and are contrary to law. There is no great conflict in the evidence. The radical difference between the parties is respecting its legal effect. The facts are substantially as follows: On January 1, 1907, and at all other times mentioned in the record, Anton H. Tapper was the owner of a certain business block in the city of Hammond, consisting of three stories and a basement; on said day, Tapper, by an instrument in writing, leased the ground floor of. said block to [297] The MeAvoy Brewing Company of Chicago for a term of three years, ending January 1, 1910. In February, 1907, the brewing company, by parol, and with the consent of Tapper, sublet the room to appellee, who thereupon entered into possession, and used it in the business of operating a saloon for the retail of intoxicating liquors. The fixtures and furnishings were owned by the brewing company. The lease so executed to the brewing company contained the following provisions:
“At the expiration of this lease, or on failure to pay rent when same is due, or on failure to comply with any of the conditions of this lease, the same shall terminate at once, without notice, and the said Anton H. Tapper, his representatives and. assigns may enter' on and take possession of said premises, and expel the occupant thereof, without in any wise being a trespasser, and a failure of said Anton H. Tapper to take possession of said premises at the time aforesaid, shall not estop him from afterwards asserting said rights, and the occupation of said premises by the said tenant after the expiration of said lease, or the forfeiture thereof, shall give him no rights as tenant, but he may be expelled at any time without notice.”
At the time of the execution of the lease, Tapper endorsed on the back of it his signed consent that the room might be sublet at any time within the granted term. On July 8, 1909, Tapper executed to appellant an instrument in writing, by which he leased the room to appellant for a term of ten years, commencing January 1, 1910, to be used in conducting a banking and trust company business'. This lease was properly executed and acknowledged before a notary public, and was duly recorded in the recorder’s office of Lake County, on July 27, 1909. Prior to January 1, 1910, Tapper notified the brew[298] ing company by letter that he 'expected the room to be surrendered at the expiration of the company’s lease on January 1, 1910. Appellee apparently had knowledge that such notice had been given, and prior to said date negotiated with Tapper and the company with a view to leasing another room owned by the former, and on which the latter apparently had some claim. The question of the procuring of such other room by appellee remained in doubt for sometime, and resulted finally in its being leased to another party. Appellee insisted that he had made some sort of an arrangement by which he was to occupy the room in question after January 1, 1910. He claimed that when the brewing company sublet the room to him,, its agent stated that he might occupy it indefinitely if the rent was paid. He had actual as well as constructive knowledge of the execution of the ten-year lease to appellant, but did not claim that any arrangement was made with appellant for the occupancy of the room by him after January 1. At the trial, appellee testified that Tapper in January, 1910, gave him permission to occupy the room after the first of that month. The brewing company refused to accept the installment of rent for January, and thereupon on two occasions, appellee tendered such installment to Tapper, who refused it. There was evidence that in January, Tapper, on several occasions, demanded that appellee vacate the room. Appellee’s somewhat cloudy claim to the right to occupy the room is made rather more definite by an affidavit filed by him in this proceeding, in support of his motion to dissolve a temporary restraining order, hereinafter mentioned, wherein he stated in substance that after January 1, 1910, he was in possession of the room pursuant to an oral agreement made with the brewing company and a subsequent oral agreement [299] made with. Tapper; that by the former he leased the room from the brewing company for three years, with the privilege of five “according to the terms of the lease made by and between the said Anton H. Tapper, the owner thereof, and the said McAvoy Brewing Company”; that having later ascertained that the lease to the brewing company was only for the term of three years, and consequently that the company did not have the power to sublet the room for a longer term, there was an agreement made between him and Tapper, by which they would arrange “as between themselves for the rent of the premises until the first day of February, 1910”, being the time of the expiration of his county license to retail intoxicating liquor.
In the ease at bar, appellee was in the peaceable possession of the room up to February 4, under a claim of right, and the evidence is not sufficient to indicate that such claim 'of right rested in bad faith. It follows that the mere fact that Tapper owned the legal title to the room, or'that the actual right to the possession, as it might be determined by a legal investigation, rested in him or appellant, did not, under the terms of the statute, justify a forcible invasion of appellee’s possession. If there was such a forcible invasion, appellant as a participator in it, and as the beneficiary of its fruits, was in the wrong in the beginning of this action, and as a consequence, he could not prevail in this proceed[305] ing. Schwinn v. Perkins (1910), 79 N. J. L. 515, 78 Atl. 19, 32 L. R. A. (N. S.) 51, 21 Ann. Cas. 1223; Peele v. State (1903), 161 Ind. 378, 68 N. E. 682. The broad language used in Judy v. Citizen, supra, that “Under this statute, the possession can not be changed against the person who actually has it, under claim of right, without the intervention of legal procedure” must be understood as applying to a case where such person insists on maintaining the possession, and in order to deprive him of it, recourse either to force or to a proper legal procedure is necessary. It would seem apparent that where the landowner is wrongfully held out of possession by one without right in the premises, he may, when the opportunity presents itself, gain a possession in fact peaceable and by peaceable means, and that the necessity for recourse to legal procedure would exist only where peaceable means fail and force would otherwise bé necessary. Scott v. Willis (1890), 122 Ind. 1, 23 N. E. 786.
Here the entry was made without the knowledge or consent of appellee, and while he was temporarily absent from the room. Had he been present in the room, and had he promptly offered resistance to the invaders as they were making the entry, or as soon as they gained occupancy, and had they overcome and expelled him from the room by . violence, it could not consistently be maintained that such an entry was peaceable. The conduct of the invaders indicated that they expected a contest. They proceeded promptly to barricade one door, and placed on guard at the other a watchman bearing the indicia of legal authority. As soon as appellee learned that Tapper and others were occupying the room, he attempted to recover or regain whatever actual possession he had lost. He was promptly and forcibly expelled, as testified to by Boles. The entire transaction we hold to have been a forcible entry within the meaning of the statute. It was reasonably calculated to provoke an encounter, or to lead to a breach of the peace that might have been serious in its consequences. It matters not whether appellee was justified, in his subsequent conduct. [310] If, in procuring the John Doe warrants to be issued, and the persons to be arrested, on a charge of trespass, he did not pursue the proper legal remedy, or if he acted in bad faith, so as to place himself in conflict with the principle announced by Tibbetts v. O’Connell, supra, none of which do we decide (see, Fults v. Monro [1911], 202 N. Y. 34, 95 N. E. 23, 37 L. R. A. [N S.] 600, Ann. Cas. 1912 D 870), still his conduct, if wrongful, did not justify appellant in its prior act of gaining possession of the room in violation of the statute. Appellant, being in the wrong, can not be protected in his possession so gained, or have such possession restored to him by an appeal to equity. Such cases as Page v. Dwight, supra, and Smith v. Reeder, supra, in the final conclusion reached, are apparently not in harmony with the views of this court. These cases, however, are decided under statutes that differ in their provisions from our statute, and it is possible that the conflict between them, and our views is only apparent rather than real.
Appellant, in justification of the- entry in the case at bar, bases an argument on the provision of the lease under which appellee held, as hereinbefore quoted, to the effect that at the expiration of the term of the lease, Tapper, his representatives and assigns, might enter upon and take possession of the premises, and expel the occupant thereof, without in any manner being trespassers. Appellant sup[313] ports such argument by citing Fabry v. Bryan (1875), 80 Ill. 182, which follows earlier Illinois cases, and is in turn followed by Goshen v. People (1896), 22 Colo. 270, 44 Pac. 503; and Howe v. Frith (1908), 43 Colo. 75, 95 Pac. 603, 127 Am. St. 79, 17 L. R. A. (N. S.) 672, 15 Ann. Cas. 1069. While we do not place any particular stress on the distinctions, it may be observed that in each of such cases the lease involved contained the further provision that such entry might be “with or without process of law”, and that in so entering the lessor was authorized “to use such force as may be necessary in so doing”, and that the nature of the action was other than as provided by the forcible entry and detainer statute. In any event we should not be inclined to follow such cases, and give them the stamp of our approval. Their soundness is doubted by 2 Tiffany, Landlord and Tenant 1505, 1506. They seem also to be in conflict with the following: Spencer v. Commercial Co. (1902), 30 Wash. 520, 71 Pac. 53; McClelland v. Gaston (1898), 18 Wash. 472, 51 Pac. 1062; Kerr v. O’Keefe (1903), 138 Cal. 415, 71 Pac. 447; Bixby v. Casino Co. (1895), 14 Misc. 346, 35 N. Y. Supp. 677.
Respecting such a provision, the following language is used in Spencer v. Commercial Co., supra: “If clauses of this kind in a lease may be summarily enforced by the parties thereto by force, then the statutes of the state defining unlawful detainer, and providing a remedy by which a landlord may obtain possession may be entirely abrogated by contracts, which permit landlords to take the law into their own hands.”
We find no error in the record for which the judgment should be reversed. The judgment is affirmed.
[314] Note. — Reported in 107 N. E. 480. As to what is unlawful detainer see 120 Am. St. 33. As to right of one who was in peaceable possession to maintain forcible entry and detainer against another entitled to possession, who forcibly dispossessed him, see 8 L. R. A. (N. S.) 426; 32 L. R. A. (N. S.) 51. As to threats and display of force without actual force as constituting forcible entry, see 15 Ann. Cas. 804. As to right of tenant to maintain forcible entry and detainer against landlord for forcible ejectment after termination of lease, see 12 Ann. Cas. 767. As to keeping out of possession person entitled thereto, by fear of personal violence, after peaceable entry, as giving right of action, see Ann. Cas. 1912 D 875. See, also, under (1) 24 -Cyc 1009, 1014; (2) 16 Cye 1048, 1050; (3) 36 Cyc 1123; (4) 19 Cyc 1124,1128; (5) 19 Cye 1134,1135; (6) 19 Cyc 1135; (7) 19 Cye 1141, 1142.
107 N.E. 480 (Hammond Savings & Trust Co. v. Boney) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.