Hay v. Long

Citations

• 78 Wash. 616
• 139 P. 761
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1070

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and Tenant — Lease—Parties—Execution—Evidence— Sufficiency. A lease, executed by the lessor’s attorney In fact to his wife, and a few days later assigned to a third party, is not shown to have been made in the first instance to the assignee, and' only taken in the name of the agent’s wife for the assignee’s convenience, where the lease called for rent at but $5 per month, and the assignee agreed to pay $15 per month in case he used the building as a store, the excuse for taking it in the name of the agent’s wife was that the assignee desired to conceal his identity, which however he disclosed the next day by offering the assignment for record', and the evidence tends to show that the assignment was an afterthought to evade the possible voidability of the original lease.</p> <p>Principal and Agent — Contracts of Agent — Validity. A lease, executed by the lessor’s attorney in fact to his wife, not engaged in separate business, being presumptively a lease to the community, is voidable as a lease by an agent to himself.</p> <p>Same. A lease by an attorney in fact to his wife is voidable at the instance of the principal, on the ground of the relationship of the lessee to the agent.</p> <p>Landlord and Tenant — Lease — Assignment — Bona Fide Purchaser — Notice of Infirmity. The assignee of a lease, executed by the lessor’s agent to his own wife, takes with notice of the lessor’s right to repudiate the lease, where he knew the relationship between the parties.</p> <p>Same — Lease—By Agent — Revocation of Authority — Assignment. The fact that an assignment of a voidable lease was not recorded until twelve days after a prompt revocation of the power of attorney authorizing a lease, is presumptive proof that it was executed immediately prior to its recording.</p> <p>Damages — Duty to Reduce. Plaintiff cannot recover damages for loss of goods stored in a shed, which he left to the elements and might have saved, after defendant tore down the shed.</p>