Sutherland v. Goodnow

Citations

• 108 Ill. 528
• 1884 Ill. LEXIS 1512

Syllabus

<p>1. Assignment—of lease, carries with it right to renewal. An assignment of a lease by the tenant carries with it a clause giving the tenant the option to renew the lease at the end of the term, as well as all other clauses therein.</p> <p>2. Landlord and tenant—option to renew lease is no present demise. A clause in a lease for one year giving the lessee the option, on a certain- condition, to renew the lease for another year, is not a demise to take effect at the expiration of the first year,—it is a mere covenant or undertaking of the lessor to let the lessee have a second term, which may be enforced on bill for specific performance, or upon which an action at law may lie for a breach.</p> <p>3. Same—tenant can not sub-let longer than his present term. A tenant in possession under a written lease for one year, with the option of renewing the same for a second year if the lessor does not sell the premises before the end of the term, not having any demise except for one year, can not sub-let the premises for any longer term than his own,—that is, to the end of the first year.</p> <p>4. Plaintiff procured a written lease to himself of certain premises for the term of one year, which lease contained a clause that he should have the option to take the premises for another year at the same rent, provided the lessor should not sell the premises before the end of the first year. A few months afterward the plaintiff sub-let the property to the defendants, and before the expiration of the term he notified them that if they held over he would charge them an enhanced sum as rent. Before the end of the term the lessor sold the premises by contract, and put the purchaser in possession, and the defendants at the end of the term attorned to the purchaser, and took a lease from him. At the end of the second year the plaintiff sued the defendants for the rent of the premises: Held, that he was not entitled to recover; that at the end of the first term the sub-lessees ceased to b