Randol v. Scott

Citations

• 110 Cal. 590
• 42 P. 976
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 1103

Syllabus

<p>Lease—Assignment—Covenant by Joint Lessees—Insolvency of One Lessee—Forfeiture.—A covenant by two joint lessees of land not to assign the lease or permit any assignment thereof to be made by bankruptcy or otherwise, without the written consent of the lessor, is not broken, so as to incur a forfeiture of the lease, by an adjudication and assignment in insolvency by one of the lessees of his interest in the lease, to which the other lessee is not a party, and which he could not have prevented.</p> <p>Id.—Construction of Covenant—Condition Involving Forfeiture.—A condition involving a forfeiture must be strictly interpreted against the party for whose benefit it is created, and to prevent the restraint from going beyond the express stipulation; and a covenant by the lessees not to assign the lease must be presumed to mean that the lease should not be assigned by the joint act of the lessees.</p> <p>Id.—Cultivation in Husbandlike Manner—Breach of Covenant— Waiver of Objection.—Under a covenant that the land shall be continuously cultivated in a good and husbandlike manner, and kept clear of other growth, except that the lessees may raise squash or pumpkins between the peach trees during the first two years of their growth, the planting of corn, beans, and nursery trees over a very small part of the land is too trivial a matter to warrant a forfeiture of the lease, where the lessor had a right to inspect the premises, and to be informed of the condition of the land and trees and of the performance by the lessees of their covenants, and made no objection to what was done by the lessees.</p>