Senft v. McIlvain

Citations

• 43 Pa. Super. 518
• 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 84

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and tenant — Wrongful distress — Damages—Evidence—Act of March 21, 1772, 1 Sm. L. 370.</p> <p>1. In an action against a landlord to recover damages for distress made at a time when no rent was in fact due, it is permissible to introduce testimony of an agent of the defendant’s predecessor in title to show the terms of the plaintiff’s lease from such prior owner, and that the defendant in taking title assented to the terms of the existing lease.</p> <p>2. Where in an action to recover damages for an alleged wrongful distress, the court refers in its charge to a particular article as having been taken, but in answer to points positively instructs the jury not to consider the article in estimating the damages, inasmuch as the article had not been a part of the distress, the judgment will not be reversed because of the mistaken statement of the judge.</p> <p>3. In an action to recover damages for wrongful distress when no rent is due, the court commits no error in referring in its charge to the Act of March 21, 1772, 1 Sm. L. 370, and stating that the plaintiffs claimed to recover double the amount of the value of the property taken, although there is no distinct claim in the plaintiffs’ statement of a demand to recover double damages, if the statement refers to the act, and the damages are named at double the amount of the value of the property sold.</p> <p>4. Where a tenant’s goods are wrongfully distrained when no rent is due, the tenant may proceed in trespass under the act of 1772, without resorting to replevin.</p>