11 Pa. 58 | Pa. | 1849
The opinion of .this court was delivered by
Henry v. Horstick, 9 W. 413, is an authority to the point that the payment of the taxes made by Caldwell cannot be deemed voluntary, and that as his goods were taken to pay a debt owing by another, he has a remedy to recover the money he was compelled to pay, from the original debtor. And so the court instructed the jury; but the difficulty is as to the person against whom the action lies. The jury were instructed that Hileman & Haman, the tenants of Moore when .the taxes were assessed, were alone liable. That Moore, who was the owner of the property, in the absence of any contract to the contrary between lessor and lessees (which we cannot presume) was ultimately liable, cannot admit of doubt; for by the 6th section of the act of the 3d April, 1804, “ every tenant who may or shall occupy or possess any lands or tenements, shall be liable to pay all the taxes which during such occupancy or possession may thereon become due and payable, and having so paid said taxes, or any part thereof, it shall be lawful for him, by action of debt or otherwise; to recover said taxes from his landlord, or at his election to defalcate the amount thereof in the payment of the rent due to such landlord, unless such defalcation or recovery should impair any contract or agreement between them previously made.”. ^Although the tenant may
Judgment reversed, and a venire de novo awarded.