64 Mo. App. 87 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1895
On the first day of May, 1893, the defendant leased from .plaintiff certain premises for the period of five years. The rent for the first year was fixed at $750, payable in monthly installments of $62.50, each installment to be due and payable on the first day of each month, in advance. For the remaining
No instructions were asked or given, and no point is made on the admission or exclusion of evidence.
It is the accepted law in this state and elsewhere that a lessee of premises which are burned, or destroyed by other accidental causes, has no relief either in law or equity against an express covenant to pay rent, unless he has protected himself by covenant against such casualties, or the lessor has (covenanted to rebuild and has failed to do so. The seeming hardship of the rule disappears when the transaction is viewed as a sale of the premises for • the period • of time mentioned in the lease. Gibson v. Perry, 29 Mo. 244; Burnes v. Fuchs, 28 Mo. App. 279. We understand counsel for defendant to concede this, but his argument seems to be that the clause in the lease above quoted in some way released the defendant from his obligation to pay rent in case the house was burned,
The defendant attempted to prove a surrender after the fire. Conceding for the argument that his evidence tended to prove it, the plaintiff positively denied it. The circuit court found the issue against the defén'dant, and we can not disturb the finding.
The defendant also attempted to prove that the plaintiff made arrangements with the defendant for the possession of the premises so that he could rebuild, and that he afterward refused to go ahead with the work. He failed to prove any such arrangement, and, if he had, it would have been no defense to the action.
The suggestion is also made, that the provisions of section 2393, supra, are broad enough to relieve the defendant of his obligation to pay rent. Counsel misconceives the object and purport of the statute. As heretofore stated, the section was enacted to relieve lessees from the obligation to rebuild, where the lease contained a general covenant to repair. And it also protects tenants against actions for damages resulting from accidental fires having their origin in the houses or apartments occupied by tenants. This is the entire scope of the enactment.
The judgment will be affirmed.