Harper & Brother Co. v. Jackson

Citations

• 240 Pa. 312
• 87 A. 430
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 669

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and tenant — Agency—Eviction—Waiver — Bight to damages.</p> <p>1. In an action of assumpsit to recover damages alleged to have been suffered by plaintiff as a result of its enforced removal from a property leased to it by the defendant, binding instructions for the defendant are proper where it appears that the defendant, purporting to act as agent for the several owners of a building, leased the fourth floor thereof to the plaintiff for a term of five years; that the written lease was signed by the defendant as agent for the owners, naming them, and the lessee went into possession; that after about two years the owners notified the plaintiff that the defendant had no written authority to execute the lease and demanded that the lessee should vacate the premises by a certain day; that the plaintiff did not remove on such day but two months later entered into a contract with the owners whereby it agreed, in consideration of the sum of one thousand dollars, to vacate by a month later, it further appearing that there was evidence sufficient to sustain a finding that one owner had expressly ratified the act of the defendant in executing the lease and that the defendant had acted in good faith.</p> <p>2. In such a case the fact that plaintiff in his agreement to vacate the premises reserved the right to hold the defendant responsible for alleged damages sustained by him, is immaterial.</p> <p>3. Where a tenant, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, abandons the premises, there is no eviction; if he continues to occupy the premises after the acts which constitute a constructive eviction, it is a waiver of eviction.</p>