Consumers' Ice Co. v. William H. H. Bixler & Co.

Citations

• 84 Md. 437
• 35 A. 1086
• 1896 Md. LEXIS 115

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and Tenant—Liability for Rent of Assignee of the Term— Agreement by Assignee to Perform Covenants of Original Lease ■—Privity of Estate Between Lessor and Lessee—Assent of Lessor to Assignment by Lessee—Implication of Covenant to Pay Rent.</p> <p>Land was leased for a term of years with an implied covenant on the part of the lessee to pay the rent during the term. Subsequently the leasehold interest was assigned to the defendant and an agreement under seal was made by all the parties by which the lessor assented to the assignment and it was stipulated that all the covenants in the original lease should be in full force between the lessor and the assignee. The defendant entered into possession and afterwards assigned the lease, without the consent of the lessor, to a third party. In an action to recover an instalment of rent falling due after such assignment, Held, that the effect of the agreement was to make the defendant liable for the rent to the same extent that the original lessee was liable, and therefore such assignment of the term by the defendant did not relieve him from liability for rent subsequently accruing..</p> <p>The liability of an assignee of a term to the lessor for rent rests upon privity of estate and continues only so long as such privity exists.</p> <p>But when the assignee of a term expressly agrees to perform all the covenants contained in the lease, he is liable thereon in the same manner as the original lessee.</p> <p>When a lessee covenants to pay the rent during the continuance of the term, his liability is not terminated by an assignment of the lease, although the lessor may accept rent from the assignee or consent to the assignment.</p> <p>But if there be in the lease no express covenant to pay rent, the lessee’s liability therefor-will cease if the lessor consents to an assignment of the term, and such assent may be inferred from his acceptance of rent from the assignee, or other recognition of him as tenant.</p> <p>When a