Wells v. B. F. Porter Estate

272 P. 1039, 205 Cal. 776, 1928 Cal. LEXIS 608
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 20, 1928
DocketDocket No. L.A. 9528.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 272 P. 1039 (Wells v. B. F. Porter Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wells v. B. F. Porter Estate, 272 P. 1039, 205 Cal. 776, 1928 Cal. LEXIS 608 (Cal. 1928).

Opinion

*777 CURTIS, J.

This action was brought to recover damages for an alleged eviction of the plaintiff from 190 acres of land owned by defendant and held by plaintiff under lease from defendant. The lease was in writing and covered a term of one year beginning November 1, 1923, and ending with the cropping season of the following year. It provided that defendant was to receive as rental of the leased premises one-third of all crops produced on the leased land. Plaintiff allged that he was wrongfully evicted from said premises on the fourteenth day of February, 1924, and that he was thereby damaged in the sum of $12,500, which sum he alleged was the value of plaintiff’s share of the crop of baby lima beans, which would have been produced upon said land during the term of said lease had he been permitted to continue in possession of the leased premises during the term of the lease. In its answer the defendant denied specifically all the foregoing allegations and affirmatively alleged the abandonment of said premises by the plaintiff and also the violation of the terms of the lease requiring him to live upon the leased property or to hire somebody to live thereon or take charge of the same during his absence. Defendant further alleged in its answer that plaintiff violated said lease by his failure at proper times and in a proper manner to cultivate said land in a good and husbandlike manner and by his failure to follow, as required by the terms of the lease, defendant’s direction in that respect. The action was tried by the court without a jury. The facts were found substantially as alleged by plaintiff except as to the amount of the latter’s damage, which the trial court found to be the sum of $1,994.96. The defendant has appealed.

The main contention of appellant is that the evidence is not sufficient to support the finding of the trial court that the respondent was wrongfully evicted from said premises by the appellant. Immediately upon the execution of the lease the respondent was let into the possession of a portion of the leased premises, but did not get possession of the entire tract until December 10, 1923. He removed his stock and farming implements upon the land and began work upon the same for the purpose of putting in a crop of baby lima beans. He plowed in some ditches *778 that were upon the land and about six aeres of the land itself, which had been previously planted to kaffir corn, and disced about sixty acres of ground upon which the year before tomatoes had been grown. This work consumed about a month. There had been but a slight rainfall during the season and it was difficult to work the land advantageously in the condition in which it was before the rains. It was not customary to begin planting beans in that locality until about the first of May. The officers of the appellant were urging the respondent to expedite the plowing of the land and the preparation of it for the planting of the season’s crop. There were no buildings on the premises, and respondent had not .occupied the premises as provided by the lease. His cookhouse was upon the premises leased from the appellant and located about three miles from the 190-acre tract, covered by the lease in question. His tools were upon the .190-acre tract and his hay and livestock were kept across the road from the leased premises. No rain of any substantial amount fell until March 15, 1924. After said rain there was sufficient time in which to prepare said land for the planting of baby lima beans for that season. The respondent held possession of the property until February 14, 1924. On that day he left the premises for.a few days, and on his return on February 19, 1924, he found them in the possession of a third person to whom the appellant had leased them. He also found a note from appellant dated February 14, 1924, reading as follows: “Ton are hereby notified that unless active work is commenced within forty-eight hours from date your lease will be automatically cancelled.” In conversation the next morning after his return with the superintendent of appellant he was .told, that he had no lease.

It was also shown that baby lima beans were generally grown in that section, and that had respondent been permitted to carry out the terms of the lease regarding said real property he would have planted the same to baby lima beans, which crop of beans when sold, according to the prices prevailing during that year, would have brought an amount of money which, after deducting all expenses incurred in raising and producing said crop, would exceed the judgment in this action.

*779 We think this evidence sufficient to support the finding of the court that the respondent was unlawfully evicted from said premises by the appellant. There might be some question whether the respondent complied with that provision of the lease requiring him to live upon the leased premises. While his tools and farming implements were upon the leased land and he was personally in possession thereof and was clearing and plowing the same, his hay and livestock were kept across the street, and he resided upon premises owned by the appellant situated some three miles away from the leased premises. It does not appear, however, that the appellant ever objected to this departure by respondent from the terms of the lease. In fact, it might be inferred from the evidence that as respondent was then living upon premises belonging to appellant and leased by it to respondent that appellant waived the provision of the lease requiring him to live upon the 190-aere tract. This is borne out by the written notice left by appellant at the home of respondent notifying him that his lease would be canceled unless he began active work upon the leased land within forty-eight hours from the date of the notice. No complaint was made in this notice that respondent was not then living upon the leased premises. As the appellant took possession of the property soon after leaving this notice at respondent’s home, it may well be assumed that appellant was acting thereunder and for the reason therein stated when it repossessed itself of the leased premises. As to the claim that respondent failed to comply with the terms of said lease requiring him to cultivate the leased land in a good and husbandlike manner, the evidence, to say the least, is conflicting. As recited above, the evidence shows that respondent began to plow and disc said land immediately upon being let into the possession thereof; that it was difficult to properly prepare said land for a crop until after the rains came. Before the rains came the appellant evicted respondent and thereby prevented him from the further cultivation of the land. The rains came in March, and there was evidence that there was time after that date in which to prepare the land and make it ready for a crop of beans to be grown during that season. Some reliance is made by appellant upon that provision of the lease which requires the respondent at his own expense to *780 “plow, cultivate, seed, irrigate, and hoe said land as lessor may direct.” Appellant insists that this provision of the lease was breached by the respondent prior to the time the appellant repossessed itself of said land and therefore that it was justified in its eviction of respondent.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Spinelli v. Tallcott
272 Cal. App. 2d 589 (California Court of Appeal, 1969)
Buck v. Mueller
351 P.2d 61 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1960)
Huber v. Newman
145 P.2d 780 (Utah Supreme Court, 1944)
Williams v. Hebbard
92 P.2d 657 (California Court of Appeal, 1939)
Shimbori v. Coelho
64 P.2d 479 (California Court of Appeal, 1937)
Hinman v. Conard
58 P.2d 732 (California Court of Appeal, 1936)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
272 P. 1039, 205 Cal. 776, 1928 Cal. LEXIS 608, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wells-v-b-f-porter-estate-cal-1928.