Lynch v. Baldwin

Citations

• 69 Ill. 210

Syllabus

<p>1. Landlord and tenant—what act of landlord will release the tenant from the payment of rent. If the tenant loses the benefit of the enjoyment of any portion of the demised premises by the act of the landlord, the rent is thereby suspended. The act of the landlord must be something more than a mere trespass, to have this effect. It must be something of a grave and permanent character, done with the intention of depriving the tenant of the enjoyment of the premises.</p> <p>3 Same—intention of landlord, a question of fact. As there are some acts of interference by the landlord with the tenant’s enjot'ment of the premises which do not amount to an eviction, but which may be either acts of trespass or eviction, according to the intention with which they are done, it follows that, whether the acts complained of amount to an eviction depends upon circumstances, and is a question in all cases for the jury.</p> <p>3. On the trial of a distress for rent, where an eviction was set up in defense, the court instructed the jury that the acts of the landlord in putting in a water-pipe and a pump and sink in an upper room of the demised premises without the tenant’s consent, amounted to an eviction: Held, that the instruction was erroneous, as it was a question of fact for the jury to say whether the act amounted to an eviction or not, depending on the intention with which it was done, as shown by the facts and circumstances.</p> <p>4. Same—breach of independent agreement, not an eviction. Where a house was leased to a tenant, and the landlord, outside the lease, verbally agreed that the tenant should have the use of a well and water-closet on another lot, and the tenant was deprived of those by reason of the landlord failing to pay the rent of the same, it was held, that this could not amount to an eviction so as to defeat the collection of rent, as they were not named in the lease, but the tenant’s right in respect to them grew out of a different contract.</p> <p>5. Distress