Steiner v. Marks

Citations

• 172 Pa. 400
• 33 A. 695
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 790

Syllabus

<p>Lease — Oil and gas lease — Landlord, and tenant — Forfeiture—Waiver-Declarations — Question for jury.</p> <p>The lessor in an oil and gas lease will not be permitted to enforce a forfeiture of the lease for a delay of one day in the payment of rental, where by his acts and declarations he has lured the lessee into the belief that a forfeiture will not be enforced for so short a delay.</p> <p>Upon the evening of the last day upon which rent was to be paid under an oil and gas lease, the lessee went to the lessor’s house in the evening and roused the lessor from his. bed to make payment. The lessee testified : “ I says to him, I came up to pay this rental. And he says, What brought you here at this time of night. I said to him, I thought you would kick or something of that kind if I didn’t come. And he says, You ought to have known me better than that, to-morrow would have done as well, or something like that.” The second quarter was paid a few days before it was due. On the third day before the third quarter was due the lessor being at the lessee’s barn, the lessee asked him to wait until he could go to his house for the money to pay the rental. When the lessee returned from the house which was a short distance from the barn, the lessor had gone. The rent was tendered the day after it was due. The lessor then declared a forfeiture of the lease. Held, that the case was for the jury under proper instructions to determine whether the acts and declarations of the lessor were calculated to lead, and did lead the lessee into a day’s default, and whether by such acts and declarations he had not waived his right to forfeit the lease for the ground stated.</p>