86 Pa. Super. 458 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1925
Argued April 14, 1925. This is an action of replevin, brought for the recovery of certain personal property levied upon by the defendants for unpaid rent. The defendant, A.M. Pinney, had leased a store room to plaintiff about April 1, 1910, at $25 per month rent. The premises were known as 1514 Peach Street, Erie, Pa. Under the *460 store room there was a basement which ran the full length of the store and was occupied by the plaintiff under the written lease. There was an adjoining store room and basement which were leased to a Mrs. Snyder. These tenants continued in possession of their respective premises until about the year 1919 when the front of the basement under plaintiff's store was separated from the remainder by a partition and Mrs. Snyder, the next door neighbor, occupied almost the entire basement under plaintiff's store. On April 1st, 1920, the new lease was made to the plaintiff for a term of five years at $25 per month rent, and at that time Mrs. Snyder was still in possession of the adjoining store room and also occupied the larger portion of the basement under the plaintiff's store. From April 1st, 1920, to October 1st, 1921, plaintiff paid the rent, but refused thereafter to pay any, and the reason which appears for her refusal to pay rent and which is the point of dispute in this case, was that at the time the lease in question was made the defendant made a parol contemporaneous promise which induced the plaintiff to sign the agreement, that the partition in the basement would be removed and that the portion of the basement occupied by Mrs. Snyder under the store room of the plaintiff would be restored to her. Under objection, the evidence in regard to this parol agreement was admitted. The case was submitted to the jury and the verdict resulted in favor of the plaintiff.
Had the plaintiff a right to show in this action a parol contemporaneous agreement, made before the execution of the written lease, to the effect that the lessor would remove the partition in the basement of the premises leased? It is to be observed that there was no question as to the extent of the property covered by the lease. The store and a small portion of the basement were in possession of the lessee, the remaining portion of the basement was in possession *461
of another person; so that the limits of the leased premises were clearly defined. The store, 1514 Peach Street, Erie, Pa., was the identical property then in possession and occupancy of the plaintiff and included only a small portion of the basement. There is no allegation of fraud, accident or mistake and if there were it would not avail. "Despite what was said in early Pennsylvania cases, it has been stated, and we now repeat, that a breach of faith or of an agreement regarding the doing or refraining from doing something in the future is not fraud, as that word is employed in the phrase, `fraud, accident or mistake'": First National Bank of Hooversville v. Sagerson,
We must start out with the position that the parties put their engagements in writing, and that the best evidence of what they intended to do is found in the writing. The Supreme Court on several occasions recently has stated that it proposes to stand for the integrity of written contracts: Gianni v. Russell Co.,
The judgment is reversed with a new venire.
GAWTHROP, J., dissents.