Stewart v. Murphy

148 P. 609, 95 Kan. 421, 1915 Kan. LEXIS 230
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 8, 1915
DocketNo. 19,453
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 148 P. 609 (Stewart v. Murphy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stewart v. Murphy, 148 P. 609, 95 Kan. 421, 1915 Kan. LEXIS 230 (kan 1915).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Marshall, J.:

This is an appeal from a judgment for damages for failure to deliver possession of leased premises.

The defendant leased to the plaintiff eighty acres of land in Montgomery county, but was unable to deliver [422]*422possession of the premises because a former tenant held over under a lease not legally terminated. There are two causes of action set out in the petition. Under the first the plaintiff sought to recover the consideration paid for the lease. This was not contested by the defendant, was included in the verdict, and was remitted by the plaintiff before judgment. The second cause of action, as stated in the petition, is as follows:

“For a second and further cause of action the said plaintiff hereby refers to his first cause of action and makes all the allegations and averments thereof a part of this cause of action and further alleges that the said defendant has failed and neglected to place and put said plaintiff in the possession of said real estate as under his said contract of lease he was obligated and bound to do, and that by reason thereof said plaintiff has been deprived of the use of said real estate for the term for which it was leased to him, and that the fair and reasonable rental value of the use of said premises to said plaintiff during said term is the sum of $500.00, and that said plaintiff has been damaged by reason of said defendant’s failure and neglect to comply with the terms, both express and implied, of said lease, and to place and put said plaintiff in the possession of said premises, in the aforesaid sum of $500.00, and which sum is now justly due and owing from the said defendant to said plaintiff.”

(1) On the trial the defendant objected to the introduction of evidence on the second cause of action because it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and because the lease contained no warranty of possession. This objection was overruled. A demurrer to the plaintiff’s evidence was also overruled. An objection urged against the second cause of action stated in the petition and against the evidence to sustain it, is that the plaintiff’s two causes of action are inconsistent. This matter seems not to have been called to the attention of the trial court, and is now presented for the first time. It is now too late. (Walker v. Armstrong, 2 Kan. 198, 222; Green v. Dunn, 5 Kan. 254; Moore v. Wade, 8 Kan. 380; Wilson v. [423]*423Fuller, 9 Kan. 176; K. P. Rly. Co. v. Mihlman, 17 Kan. 224; Water Co. v. Hill, 46 Kan. 145, 26 Pac. 412; Rouse v. Bartholomew, 51 Kan. 425, 32 Pac. 1088; Board of Education v. Jacobus, 83 Kan. 778, 112 Pac. 612; Gorrell v. Battelle, 93 Kan. 370, 372, 144 Pac. 244; Insurance Co. v. Baer, 94 Kan. 777, 147 Pac. 840.)

(2) It is urged that there is no warranty in the lease of the quiet enjoyment of the premises. This is correct, unless one is implied. The lease recites that the party of the first part has this day leased and rented unto the party of the second part, for the term of one year, commencing on the first day of March, 1913, etc. To enjoy the benefits secured by this contract the'lessee —the plaintiff in this action — must be in possession of the premises. If he can not have such possession, the provisions of the contract are defeated so far as he is concerned. In a sale of personal property there is an implied warranty or covenant on the part of the seller that he is the owner of the property and has the right to sell the same. Unless there is an implied covenant for quiet enjoyment of the premises a landowner may lease property to different persons for the same period, and not be liable because of failure to deliver possession under the leases. It is true that when parties enter into a written contract that contract is presumed to contain all the terms of their agreement, but many times conditions are implied by law on which the contract itself is silent. It would be a harsh rule that would permit a landowner to lease land to a person, and then, without fault on the part of the lessee, prevent him from going upon or possessing the premises. The authorities are not united in holding that a covenant of quiet enjoyment is implied in a lease. In a Note in 9 L. R. A., n. s., 1127, it is stated that the authorities upon this point are in direct conflict, and cases are there cited on both sides of the controversy. The weight of authority, however, is that in every lease of land a covenant of quiet enjoyment is implied when the lease is silent on that subject.

[424]*424“The lessor impliedly covenants to put the lessee in possession at the beginning of the term as against a prior tenant wrongfully holding over.” (Sloan v. Hart, 150 N. Car. 269, 63 S. E. 1037, 21 L. R. A., n. s., 239, headnote, ¶ 1.)

In Sloan v. Hart, supra, this language is found:

“All authorities are agreed that, if Josh Simon, the prior tenant, held over rightfully under the terms of his lease, the defendants would be liable, for to hold otherwise would be giving to the defendants the benefits of their own wrong.” (p. 271.)
“Ordinarily there is an implied covenant in a lease that the demised premises shall be open to entry by the lessee at the time fixed in the lease as the beginning of the term.” (Herpolsheimer v. Christopher, 76 Neb. 352, 355, syl. ¶ 1, 111 N. W. 359, 9 L. R. A., n. s., 1127.)
“Where the lease contains no stipulation to the contrary, there is an implied covenant on the part of the lessor that the premises shall be open to entry by the lessee at the time fixed by the lease for him to take possession.” (24 Cyc. 1049.)
“A formal instrument of lease ordinarily contains an express covenant on the part of the lessor for quiet enjoyment by the lessee, but, according to the weight of authority, even though such a covenant is not expressed, it will be implied.” (1 Tiffany, Landlord and Tenant, § 79, p. 517.)
“The making of a contract to let land, or the making of a lease for the land, from a certain date, binds the lessor to make the lease and deliver the possession.” (Trickett, Landlord and Tenant, § 4, p. 3.)
“The law supposes that when a man makes a lease, he has a good title to the land, and, consequently, power to lease it; and an engagement to this effect on the part of a lessor is therefore always implied.” (1 Taylor’s Landlord and Tenant, 9th ed., § 304, p. 367.)
“It is now the established rule that in every lease or demise of land, a covenant for quiet enjoyment is implied.” (1 McAdam on Landlord and Tenant, 4th ed., § 118, p. 402.)

An extended note on “Covenant for quiet enjoyment” is found in 53 Am. St. Rep. 113-120.

[425]*425“The words ‘grant and demise’ in a lease for years, create an implied warranty of title and a covenant for quiet enjoyment.” (Stott et al. v. Rutherford, 92 U. S. 107, syl. ¶ 1, 23 L. Ed. 486.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
148 P. 609, 95 Kan. 421, 1915 Kan. LEXIS 230, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-murphy-kan-1915.