Cheney v. Bonnell

Citations

• 58 Ill. 268

Syllabus

<p>1. Lease—sale under execution—growing crops. Where a landlord, under a claim that a tenant has forfeited his lease by not performing its conditions, enters upon the premises and harvests and sells a crop of wheat sowed by the tenant, the landlord fails to acquire title to the grain unless ho can establish a forfeiture of the lease.</p> <p>2. Trespass—to personal property. Where a judgment creditor of a tenant sues out execution and levies on a growing crop of wheat sowed by the tenant, and it is sold and he becomes the purchaser under the execution, and the landlord harvests the wheat and sells it, claiming it as his own, on the ground that the tenant had forfeited his lease before the levy and sale, he will be liable to the purchaser under the execution if he fails to establish such a forfeiture.</p> <p>3. Forfeiture—lease—evidence. Where the forfeiture of a lease is claimed, it must be shown that the necessary acts to declare a forfeiture have been done by the landlord. A forfeiture will not be inferred because there were grounds for declaring a forfeiture and an intention to declare a forfeiture, but all the requisite steps must be taken. A forfeiture can not be produced, unless there is notice that the tenancy has ended, a demand of possession and a notice to quit. The law does not favor such forfeitures, and will not imply them from slight circumstances.</p> <p>4 Forcible detainer—evidence of a judgment in. Where a judgment in forcible detainer is relied on as evidence that the tenant had been evicted and the lease termi nated; mere verbal testimony that the landlord had recovered such a judgment, without showing service on, or appearance by the tenant, to the suit, is not sufficient to prove a binding judgment that will establish the termination of a lease.</p> <p>5. Chattel mortgage—when void,. Where the creditor of a tenant sells growing crops sowed by the tenant, and becomes the purchaser, and the landlord of the tenant endeavors to justify the harvestin