Cadwalader v. Springsteen

Citations

• 36 Pa. Super. 134
• 1908 Pa. Super. LEXIS 124

Syllabus

<p>Ground rent — Presumption of payment — Trial by jury — Acts of April 27, 1855, P. L. 368, and June 14, 1897, P. L. 149.</p> <p>On the trial of a feigned issue under the Act of June 14, 1897, P. L. 149, to determine whether or not a ground rent had become extinguished by presumption of the law, the action of the trial judge in declaring that the plaintiff had failed to establish his right to recover, and in directing a verdict for defendant in no way impinges upon the plaintiff’s right to have a trial by jury.</p> <p>When the conditions prescribed by the Act of April 27, 1855, P. L. 368, are present, the act itself declares that an extinguishment of the ground rent shall be presumed, and it shall “thereafter be irrecoverable.” When the presumption is properly invoked it has every practical effect that a formal written release or extinguishment, if then produced, would have, and the rent jjgharge becomes irrecoverable.</p> <p>In a proceeding to determine whether a ground rent had become extinguished by presumption of law, evidence of a mere naked entry on vacant and unoccupied premises for the purpose of making a demand, and the record of a judgment obtained against the original covenantor more than twenty-one years prior to the institution of the proceedings, are not sufficient to warrant a jury in finding that any payment, claim or demand, for or on account of the rent had been made within twenty-one years prior to the inception of the proceedings.</p>