51 N.Y.S. 249 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1898
The action was brought upon a lease under seal made between John L. Melcher, “as. attorney and agent for the owners of the premises hereinafter described, party of the first part, lessor, and Samuel Kreiser, of the said city, lessee, party of the second part.”' The paper was signed John L. Melcher, agent and attorney. It provided for renting certain property for two months, from the nineteenth of November to the nineteenth of December, at $400 a. month. The complaint contained an allegation that the lease was. continued from month to month, subject to all the terms and conditions of the lease, and that the defendant continued in possession of' the premises, and was in possession at the time of the commencement of the action. It alleged that the rent due on the 19th of April, 1897, and the 19th of May, 1897, was unpaid, except the sum of $300, and that there was due to the plaintiff, by reason of the-unpaid rent for these two months, the sum of $500, for which judgment was demanded. The answer, omitting the formal parts, is as-follows: The defendant “ denies the allegation contained in paragraph first of said complaint, and in folio 2 thereof, and further-alleges that the plaintiff herein is not the real party in interest, but is-merely the attorney or agent for the owners of the premises set forth in the complaint herein, and that ^ the real parties in interest are, as defendant is informed and believes, Ellen S. Melcher and Mary Paget.” On these pleadings the case came to trial. The-plaintiff proved the execution of the lease, that the defendant went into possession under it and continued in possession, and then rested.. Thereupon the court dismissed the complaint on the ground that the action was not brought by the real party in interest, and that there was no rent due and unpaid. From the judgment entered upon that order of dismissal this appeal is taken. That the rent was due and unpaid is admitted by the failure to deny it in th'e answer. Indeed, the answer contains no denial whatever. The
The judgment should be reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to the appellant to abide the event.
Van Brunt, P. J., Barrett, Patterson and O’Brien, JJ., concurred.
Judgment reversed, new trial ordered, costs to appellant to abide event.