176 Mass. 138 | Mass. | 1900
The plaintiff took the rooms under a lease from the defendant’s husband, which contained a clause authorizing the landlord to enter peaceably and take and hold possession for non-payment of rent. After the expiration of the lease the plaintiff held over under an oral agreement with the landlord that she might do so. She afterwards paid rent at the same rate, and she must be deemed to have held over under the terms of the lease. Dimock v. Van Bergen, 12 Allen, 551. Weston v. Weston, 102 Mass. 514, 518. The defendant had general superintendence of the housekeeping department of the hotel, and it was a part of her duty to take measures to clear out vermin found in any of the rooms. The plaintiff’s rooms were taken care of by the servants of the hotel acting under the defendant’s direction, and there was evidence that during the occupation of the plaintiff the rooms had become infested with bed bugs which had been seen crawling over the furniture to such an extent that it was distasteful to do chamber
The defendant testified that she had received information in regal’d to the vermin in the plaintiff’s rooms, and had twice attempted to secure interviews with the plaintiff in regard to the subject, that she had called on the plaintiff and had sent a message on the Saturday previous, that on this day “ she requested the chambermaid to bring the keys of the plaintiff’s rooms to her, and that she retained the keys because she wished to see the plaintiff personally; . . . that after receiving the keys from the maid she gave them to the clerk and told him to keep them until some member of the plaintiff’s family returned, and when they did, to ask them to go to the defendant’s apartment and see her. Subsequently she received a written note from the plaintiff saying that if her keys were not given to her at once she was advised to break in the door; that the defendant then supposed the doors were locked; that the defendant then talked with the plaintiff in the public hall; that previous to this she had an interview with the plaintiff’s son and told him that she wished to see his mother personally and that she did not wish to say anything about it to him or his sister; that she offered to let him go into the room if he wished, but he declined.”
The jury were instructed that inasmuch as it was admitted that the rent was overdue, the landlord or any person authorized to represent him would have a right to enter and take possession of the rooms, if he could do it peaceably, for the purpose
The statement to the jury about the right of the landlord to take possession under the provisions of the lease was in explanation of the relations of the parties, and not to authorize them to find an entry to terminate the tenancy when they were twice told that there was no evidence of an entry for such a purpose.
The evidence which was excluded related only to the question of damages, and the finding for the defendant makes it unnecessary to consider it.
Exceptions overruled.