91 Pa. 349 | Pa. | 1879
delivered the opinion of the court,
The plaintiffs’ goods on the premises were distrained for three months’ rent, due April 1st 1875, under the lease from Bishop Simpson and wife to Henkle & Bro. No question was raised as to the amount of rent in arrear or the regularity of the proceedings, nor was it claimed that the goods were such as are exempt from distress in the interest of trade, &c.; but the contention, on the part of the plaintiffs, was that they were not liable to distress: 1st, Because the lease to Henkle & Brother, under which the rent accrued, having expired, and the relation of landlord and tenant as between them and the lessor having ceased, the latter had no right to distrain the goods of a stranger on the premises; and 2d, Because the plaintiffs were in possession under a lease from the owner of the premises, and therefore their goods were not liable to distress for rent due by the former tenants, Henkle & Brother. These propositions embrace everything that was urged in answer to the defendant’s avowry.
The first proposition is based on a misapprehension of the Landlord and Tenant Law. The Act of March 21st 1772 provides, that “ it shall be lawful for any person having rent in arrear or due upon any lease for life or lives, or for one or more years or at will, ended or determined, to distrain for such arrears, after the determination of their respective leases, in the same manner as they might have done, if such lease or leases had not been ended or determined; provided, that such distress shall be made during the .continuance of such lessor’s title or interest.” The Statute of Anne, from which ours is copied, limited the landlord’s right of distress to six months after the determination of the lease; but our act authorizes it whenever there is rent in arrear and the landlord retains the title.
If the plaintiffs went into possession under Henkle & Brother, and are holding over after the termination of their lease, or if they were in without authority from any one, it cannot be doubted that their goods, on the premises, were liable to distress for rent due by Henkle & Brother. As a general rule, to which there are some exceptions, in the interest of trade, &c., the goods of a stranger, on
If the allegations of fact embodied in the second proposition were true, they would-be a complete answer to the avowry. If, at the time of the distress, the plaintiffs were in possession under a lease to them from the owner of the property, the relation of landlord and tenant thus existing between them,‘would forbid that their goods should be seized to satisfy rent due by the former tenants: Clifford v. Beems, 3 Watts 246; Beltzhoover v. Waltman, supra. But, was there any proof of such relation? The court below thought there was not, and in the end gave binding instructions to the jury to find for the defendant, and ascertain the amount of rent due. If there was any testimony from which the jury might reasonably have found that the plaintiffs had leased the premises from the owner or an authorized agent, it should have been submitted to them. It was not pretended that they leased directly from Mrs. Simpson, the owner, or that they ever had any personal communication with either her or her husband on the subject. They claimed to have leased from Doctor Pennington, who, as they alleged, was the agent of Mrs. Simpson, and offered testimony for the purpose of showing that they remained in possession after the termination of Henkle & Brother’s lease, under an agreement with hirú to pay a weekly rent for the short time they wished to occupy the premises; but they utterly failed to show that Pennington was ever authorized to lease the premises, or that the owner had done or omitted to do anything that would have the effect of estopping her from denying his agency. It was not competent to prove Pennington’s authority by his declarations. Nor were his acts, done without her knowledge or authority, any evidence of his agency. It was shown that he had authority to lease rooms on the second and fourth stories of the building, and collect the rents thereof, for which he held a power of attorney, defining and limiting his authority to that particular matter. If the plaintiffs had examined this they would have seen that it did not authorize him to lease the premises in question. The only semblance of authority that he had was testified to by Bishop Simpson. In view of Henkle & Brother vacating the premises, Mrs. Simpson had proposed to give Pennington $100 if
Judgment affirmed.