Murdoch v. Groves

Citations

• 51 Pa. Super. 539
• 1912 Pa. Super. LEXIS 255

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and tenant — Action for rent — Set-off.</p> <p>1. In an action by a landlord against a tenant for rent, where the tenant sets off a claim for damages arising out of the refusal of the landlord to permit him to remove manure and certain buildings he had erected on the land, the case is for the jury if the evidence is conflicting as to whether the tenant had a contract by which he had the privilege to take the manure and remove the buildings.</p> <p>2. In such a case, an offer made prior to the termination of the lease, to pay the rent only after the tenant had removed the manure and the buildings, is an insufficient tender; but if the offer was that the tenant would pay at the time he made the offer, if he could receive some assurance that he could remove the buildings and the manure afterwards, such offer is good if the tenant has a present ability to pay. A technical legal tender of the money under such circumstances is not absolutely essential to entitle the tenant to remove the manure and buildings.</p> <p>3. If, in such a case, the’amount of set-off is greater than the amount of the rent claimed, the defendant is entitled to a certificate in his favor for the difference, inasmuch as his claim arose out of the same contract upon which the plaintiff sued, and included nothing which could not be easily liquidated; and the court will not set aside such certificate on the ground that defendant’s claim should have been enforced in an independent action of trespass, where it does not appear that the plaintiff made any objections to the defendant’s right to set off his claim either in the pleadings, or at the trial, or on the argument for a new trial, and only raised it thereafter by a brief filed with the court.</p>