Wood v. Sharpless

Citations

• 174 Pa. 588
• 34 A. 319
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 929

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and tenant — Covenant in lease — Repairs—Damages.</p> <p>In an action for the breach of a covenant in a lease, evidence of the value of the lease is not admissible, because such value is not the measure of the damages for the breach of a particular covenant in it.</p> <p>A tenant after having been in possession of certain premises for seven years signed a new lease by which he agreed “ to keep the fences in proper repair, the material for which to be furnished by the lessor.” The landlord did not furnish any material, and the tenant did not repair the fences. Held, (1) that the covenant to keep the fences in repair was absolute and not qualified by the words “the material for which to be furnished by the lessor; ” (2) that the tenant was at liberty, and it was his duty, to use such suitable material as was on the premises to repair the fences, and if the landlord failed to furnish material when requested he could purchase it, and deduct the price from his rent; (8) that the tenant was not entitled directly or indirectly to any abatement from the rent, based on the nonperformance of his own covenant.</p>