27 Kan. 634 | Kan. | 1882
The opinion of the court was delivered by
But a single question is presented for examination in this case, and the facts upon which it arises are few in number and undisputed. In March, 1879, defendant commenced an action of ejectment, in the circuit court of the United States, against the plaintiff, to recover possession of ■of one half-section of land in Dickinson county. Judgment was entered by default at the June term, 1879, and the plaintiff dispossessed of the land by process under such judgment. Thereafter he’commenced this independent action in the district court of Dickinson county, to recover the value of permanent improvements placed by him upon the land. These improvements consisted of the breaking of about one hundred
It may be conceded still further, that an occupying claimant, failing to avail himself of the statutory remedy, may maintain an independent action, after having been dispossessed from the land, to recover from the owner the value of the improvements; and in such action may recover a personal judgment for the excess of the value of the improvements over the rental value. We say all these things may be conceded for the purposes of this caes, though we by no means-wish to be understood as deciding that the propositions involved in them are in fact correct.
In the case of Putnam v. Ritchie, 6 Paige, 390, in which the complainant sought to obtain compensation for his improvements, Chancellor Walworth uses this language: “By the rules of the civil law, the possessor of the property of another, who had erected buildings or made other improvements thereon in good faith supposing himself to be the owner, was entitled to payment for such improvements after-deducting from the value thereof a fair compensation for the rents or use of the property during the time he occupied it; [citing several authorities.] This principle of natural equity has been adopted by the law of England and of this state to a limited extent, in the action for mesne profits, where the bona fide possessor of property is permitted to offset or recoup in damages, the improvements he has made upon the land to the extent of the value of the rents and profits during his occupancy.”
And in Parsons v. Moses, 16 Iowa, 136, Judge Dillon makes the following observation: “ Courts of law next modified the strict rule of the common law (which makes the occupant of land which is owned by another, no matter how good the faith of the occupant may be, liable for the rents and profits) to this extent, viz., that where such owner brought his action for mesne profits, which courts of law treated as an ■equitable action, the dona fide occupant might set off or recoup the value of his permanent improvements to the extent of rents and profits demanded, but no farther.”
But notwithstanding these concessions, we think the ruling ■of the district court is correct, or at least contains no error prejudicial to the rights of the plaintiff. If the occupying ■claimant wishes to avail himself of any extraordinary rights specially given by statute, he must pursue the remedy prescribed by statute. Failing to pursue that statutory remedy, he must fall back on the general doctrines of the law for the ■measure of his rights, and by them it is clear that the occupying claimant entitled to compensation for improvements is ■chargeable with the net rental Value during the time of his occupation. It will be borne in mind that this whole doctrine of compensation for improvements is an outgrowth of ■equity. By the strict rules of the common law, whoever put-improvements upon real estate did so at his peril; and no matter though he acted in good faith and in the honest conviction that the land was his own, whenever any other party judicially established his.title to the land, such party had a right to all the improvements situated upon it. It was only through considerations of equity and in the first instance alone through courts of equity, that any innovation was made
The party in possession has had the benefit of the possession that rightfully belonged to the owner. If he has taken that from the owner which was his he ought to pay him for it. It would be harsh indeed, where a party has been deprived of the possession of his land by one who had no right to possession, that he should be compelled to pay for improvements which perhaps may be of a kind and character which he does not want and at the same time receive no pay for the use of the land of which he has been thus unjustly deprived. And on the other hand it would be unnecessarily and improperly rewarding a party, who it may be for years has been occupying property not his own, to give him the benefit of such possession without any compensation to the owner, and also give him pay for everything he has done to meliorate the estate. Such large compensation would seem to justify the language of Chancellor Kent in criticism of occupying-claimant statutes, where he says (2 Kent’s Com., marginal page 338): “But in the ordinary state of things, and in a cultivated country, such indulgences are unnecessary and pernicious, and invite to careless intrusions upon the property of others.” And again: “There is no moral obligation which should compel a man to pay for improvements upon his own land which he never authorized, and which originated in a tort.” It was well said by Judge Dillon, in the case from 16 Iowa, supra: “Equitably and rightfully, the rents and profits each year go to pay for the improvements, either wholly or pro tanto as the case may be.” That is á case very much in point, one in which the party in possession sought to obtain payment for improvements made by himself and his predecessors in possession during a series
We conclude, then, that equitably and justly the party in possession who claims pay for improvements made upon the-land should also be liable for the net rental value of the land which he has wrongfully had possession of and used. This-was the ruling of the district court. It is right, and the' judgment will therefore be affirmed.