4 Barb. 261 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1848
The plaintiff in the court below made a fair bargain for the premises described by the witnesses, for the term of one year, at an annual rent of $100; and relying on the faithful performance of his contract by the defendant, she incurred expenses and made considerable outlays in preparation for the occupation of those premises. After having been kept in suspense by the repeated promises of the defendant for some weeks, she was met at last by a flat refusal on his part to perform his contract, without the slightest justifiable reason for its violation. Under these circumstances, we feel no small regret in being obliged to reverse the judgment of the court below. But we have no alternative. There is no authority for admitting the evidence given by the witnesses Beebe and B. Yeazie. I do not doubt the right of the plaintiff to recover the damages arising from expenses incurred in preparing to remove to, and occupy, the premises in question, together with the difference between the real value of the rent, and the contract price. (See Driggs v. Dwight, 17 Wend. 71; Masterton v. The Mayor, &c. of Brooklyn, 7 Hill, 67.) But the idea of founding a claim to damages on the part of the plaintiff, upon proof of what her profits would be in the millinery business, and of proving those damages by the opinion of
The question “ what would Giles’ shop and privileges and use of water have been worth to the plaintiff per year in her business ?” called for an opinion of the witness founded on a great variety of facts; and on the profits she could make in that shop in her business; and it was so understood by the witness; and his answer was given and received under that view of the object of the inquiry. The admission of such testimony was an error for which the judgment must be reversed.
The question as to the validity of the lease itself, under our present statute, is not free from difficulty. We should regret to be obliged to hold this lease void; and should not, unless the language of the present act, upon the settled rules of construction should require it. It is not necessary to decide it now; and we do not.
Judgment reversed.