Osborn v. Farwell

Citations

• 87 Ill. 89

Syllabus

<p>1. Lease—construed as to payment for abridgement of term. Where a lease provided that in case the tenant was required to surrender before the expiration of his term, a proportionate allowance of rent should be made to him by the lessor for the time his occupancy should be abridged from such cause, and then, in a new sentence, provided to the same effect in case the premises should become untenantable by fire, “such allowance” to be paid in the lands taken by the lessee of the tenant in payment of the rent, it was held, that the payment in the lands applied to either contingency upon which the tenant’s occupancy might be abridged.</p> <p>2. Contract—punctuation as explaining. Punctuation in written contracts may sometimes shed light upon the meaning of the parties, but is never allowed to overturn what seems the plain meaning of the whole contract.</p>