18 La. 498 | La. | 1841
delivered the opinion of the court.
Plaintiffs seek to recover #504 as the value of a quantity of corn they had stored for safe keeping in a ware-house kept by Mills and Settle. This ware-house, the property of defendants, had been leased to the said Mills and Settle; the latter being indebted to defendants to the amount of $200 for rent, were sued and the corn belonging to plaintiffs seized under an order or provisional seizure. Upon being informed of this, plaintiffs immediately apprized defendants that the corn was their property, offered to pay the amount of storage due on it and notified them that they would be held responsible for the value of the corn, if not returned. Notwithstanding this notice and offer, on the part of plaintiffs, the corn was sold to pay the rent. The question is whether under these circumstances the goods of plaintiffs were pledged by operation of law to secure the judgment of the rent to the proprietors of the store, and if so, to what extent ? It is contended that the corn seized was subject to defendants’ right of pledge for the whole amount of rent due to them under article 2677 of the La. Code, which declares that “this right of pledge affects not only the moveables of the lessee and under lessee, but also those belonging to third persons when their goods are contained in the house or store by their own consent express or implied.” It seems to be taken for
In a city like ours, through which vast quantities of produce and goods are continually passing either to be sold for exportation or to be carried into the interior of the country, it would be detrimental to the interests of trade; if a different rule was to prevail, provisional seizures for large arrears of rent would be constantly obstructing the free and extensive transaction of business, and would, in some cases, lead to extreme hardship and injustice ; it is from considerations of this kind, we understand, that elsewhere goods stored in ware-houses, in the course of trade, have been considered as placed there tempora-rialy and have been entirely exempted from distress for rent; 3 Kent’s Com., p. 477.
It is therefore ordered that the judgment of the District Court be affirmed with costs.