76 Md. 409 | Md. | 1892
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The plaintiff leased of the defendant’s intestate the dwelling house and premises Number 215 Old Frederick Road, for which he was to pay a rental of $225 a year. The property being in bad condition, the ’ lessor agreed to make the following repairs: First, he was to enclose the premises with new fencing, was to run a neat picket fence from the roadway to Casey’s fence, and to paint the dwelling house, and to make any other repairs which might be necessary.
The lessor having failed in his life-time, and the defendant, his administrator, having refused to make the repairs and improvements thus agreed upon, this suit was brought by the lessee to recover damages for a breach of the lease. The plaintiff, having proved that he had over and over again requested the defendant to
The plaintiff then proved that the house and premises were, generally speaking, in a had and dilapidated condition; the house itself needed painting, both inside and out; the plastering was off in many places, especially around the windows and fire-places; the fencing between the yard and the lot, in the rear, and between the yard and barn-yard, was in a rickety and rotten condition, and in some places had fallen down; and that for the
Under this instruction the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for one cent damages, and one cent being below the jurisdiction of the Court, a judgment of nonpros, was entered, thereby subjecting the plaintiff to the payment of the costs of suit.
Now, we cannot agree with the Court, that there is no evidence legally sufficient to show that the plaintiff sustained any actual damage from the breach of contract on the part of the lessor. The property was rented by him as a home for himself and his family. It was, when the lease was signed, in a dilapidated and bad condition; the house needed painting inside and out; the plastering was off in many places; and the fencing enclosing the premises was rickety and rotten, and was in some places actually down. The lessor agreed to put it in complete repair, to paint .the house, and put up new fencing, part of which was to be neat picket fence. The proof shows that neither the lessor in his life-time, nor the defendant since his death, has ever made any of the repairs and improvements thus agreed upon in the lease. In addition to this, the lessee was deprived of the use of the property for some time waiting for these repairs to be made, and was actually deprived of the use of the stable for the want of proper fencing around the premises, and was obliged to keep his horse at livery. In the face of such facts as these, we cannot agree that the plaintiff is
Then, again, there is proof to show that the lessee was kept out of the use of the property for more than a month, waiting for these repairs to he made; and if this he so, he was also entitled to recover as damages a proportion of the rent for the time he was thus deprived of the beneficial use of the premises. And in addition to these, there is proof to show that he was deprived of the use of the stable for the want of proper fencing enclosing the property, and was obliged to keep his horse at livery. And if so, he was entitled to recover such damages as the jury might find that he had thereby sustained.
Being of opinion, then, that there was error in the instruction granted by the Court, the judgment will he reversed, and a new trial awarded.
Judgment reversed, and new trial awarded.