147 Pa. 466 | Pa. | 1892
Opinion by
The remedy by distraint for rent in arrears rests, in this state, upon the act of March 21, 1772. The provisions of this statute authorize the seizure of the goods of the tenant upon the premises, and the pursuit and seizure of them off the premises, if they have been removed clandestinely by the tenant; and they furnish a code of procedure to be followed by the landlord in order to bring the articles distrained to sale. They prescribe also the method by which the tenant, or owner of the goods seized, may prevent the sale, and secure a decision of the questions on which the right to distrain depends; such as the existence of a tenancy, the reservation of rent, the ownership of the goods, and the amount of the arrears. As the proceeding is statutory, the directions of the statute must be followed or its protection will be lost. If the seizure is irregular, it is a trespass. If the seizure is regular, but the subsequent steps are not in accordance with the statute, the landlord becomes a trespasser ab initio by his departure from the directions of the law under which he must justify, and may be sued in the same manner as any other trespasser. Thus, if the landlord, after a lawful seizure of goods on the premises, fails to procure an appraisement and to advertise the goods for sale, he becomes thereby a trespasser: Brisben v. Wilson, 60 Pa. 452. If the tenant has removed his goods clandestinely, the landlord may, within thirty days, pursue and seize them, but if, in the exercise of this right, he enters a house to make a search in which the goods are not found, he is a trespasser, and liable as
The judgment is reversed.