Clay v. Iseminger

Citations

• 187 Pa. 108
• 41 A. 38
• 1898 Pa. LEXIS 775

Syllabus

<p>Ground rents — Constitutional law — Retroactive legislation — Act of April 27, 1855.</p> <p>The Act of April 27, 1855, P. L. 369, relating to ground rents, is not unconstitutional, inasmuch as it merely operates to deprive the owner of a ground rent of a remedy for its collection after twenty-one years by raising a conclusive presumption of release or extinguishment.</p> <p>In an action to recover arrears of ground rent reserved by deed dated January 4, 1854, an affidavit of defense is sufficient which avers that no payment, claim or demand for the rent had been made by any one for more than twenty-one years, and that within that period of time no declaration or acknowledgment of the existence of the rent had been made by any one owning the premises.</p>