Whitman v. Bowe

This action was brought to recover for the nse and occupation of a loft at No. 4 Great Jones street, in the city of New York, for the period from May 1, 1881, to August SO, 1885, and a recovery having been had, from the judgment thereupon entered this appeal is taken and. also from the order-denying motion for a new trial. Subsequently a motion was made for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence, which was denied, and from such order an appeal was also taken.

The facts upon which the recovery in this case was based are somewhat complex and for a proper understanding of the question involved it is necessary that they should be stated in some detail.

During the years 1880, 1881 and 1882 the defendant was sheriff of the county of New York. On the 4th of May, 1881, certain attachments were duly issued against the United States Reflector Company upon the application of Hall, Nicoll & Granbery. These attachments were placed in the hands of the sheriff to be by him executed. On that day the defendant by his deputy seized under said attachments and took into his possession a large stock of goods, fixtures, machinery and material in a loft in a building owned by the plaintiff at No. 4 Great Jones street. At that time the U. S. Reflector Company were the lessees of the loft in question and were in possession thereof as such lessees, carrying on their business there. On the 5th of July, 1881, while the defendant was in poseession of the property seized under the attachment and had the same in the plaintiff’s building, the following agreement was entered into between the attaching creditors and the U. S. Reflector Company:

“ The undersigned parties in interest in this action consent and agree that the property now in the custody of the sheriff of the county of New York, at No. 4 Great Jones street, remain there, and that the sheriff shall pay the rent due Nathaniel Whitman for said premises when he seized such property, and such rent as has or may fall due since such seizure, until such property is finally disposed of, and that such rent be treated and regarded as an expense of such sheriff in this action, under the process held by him.”

This agreement .was taken to the sheriff’s office and shown to Mr. Douglas, the deputy, who looked at it and said “all right.” The lease of the U. S. Reflector Company of the premises in question expiring in January, 1882, in that month while the sheriff had the custody and possession of said property another agreement was entered into between Hall, Nicoll & Granbery and the U. S. Reflector Company as follows:

“ The undersigned parties in interest in this action consent and agree that the property now in the custody of the sheriff of the county of New York, at No. 4 Great Jones street, may remain there in his discretion, and that the sheriff shall pay the rent due Nathantiel Whitman for said premises, when he seized such prop

This stipulation as to the payment of rent was also taken to Douglas, according to the testimony of the plaintiff, and there was about the same conversation as previously. The plaintiff also testified that he had seen Douglas several times in the meantime and asked him each time to pay some rent, and particularly after lie had learned that Douglas had received some money to meet in part his charges, and that Douglas’ answer was that he need not worry about his money, that he had plenty of money and could wait and that he was sure to get it. It appears that at various times subsequently the sheriff was required to present his bill to the court and tax his charges under the attachment, and in these bills were included charges for rent, which were allowed as proper items to be taxed in the sheriff’s bill. In the attachment action judgment passed in the first instance in favor of the Reflector Company. From this judgment the plaintiffs in that action appealed and the attachment was continued pending the appeal, and in May, 1883, the warrants of attachment were finally -vacated. On the 7th of August, 1888, the defendant commenced an action to foreclose a lien which he claimed in his favor upon the property in question. To his complaint in that action the Reflector Company and one Corbit, who claimed an interest in the property by assignment thereof, demurred, which demurrers were finally sustained, and in Movember, 1885, the complaint as to the company and Corbit was dismissed.

Pending these appeals, and in February, 1885, the plaintiff commenced proceedings in the third district court to dispossess the Reflector Company as tenant, and this defendant and Hall, Hicoll &. G-ranbery as undertenants, as holding over in default of payment of rent. This case was tried in May, 1885, and during the proceedings a stipulation was made between the defendant and the plaintiff that any judgment obtained in that action should not be evidence of any other thing in any other suit, action or proceeding between the parties thereto on behalf of either party. A warrant of dispossession was issued to the marshal in June, 1885,. which was finally executed in or about September, 1885, and the plaintiff was awarded judgment against the defendant for the value of the use and occupation of the premises from the 1st of July, 1881. to the 1st of August, 1885.

It is urged upon the part of the defendant that no recovery can be had against the defendant because the conventional relation of landlord and tenant was not established as existing between the-parties.

It is undoubtedly true that in order to entitle the plaintiff to recover for the use and occupation by defendant of real property it is necessary to establish that the conventional relation of landlord and tenant existed between the parties, Preston v. Hawley, 101 N. Y., 586 , and the question of difficulty in the consideration of a given state of facts is to determine whether there is sufficient

The question involved in the case now before the court is whether the circumstances established by the evidence will support the inference of an agreement upon the part of the sheriff to pav rent.

ít seems to us upon an examination of the record that no such implication can arise. Great stress is laid upon the agreements made between the Beflector Company and Hall, Hicoll & Granbery in July, 1881, and January, 1882, but it will be seen that the whole scope and purport of these agreements were that, as between the parties, the sheriff should be permitted to pay the rent, and treat such payment as an expense of the sheriff in the action. It is said that these agreements were taken to the deputy sheriff, and he assented to the same. That may all be very true. The sheriff may have been perfectly content that the parties should make this agreement, but from this fact there was no inference to be drawn that he intended to pay the rent out of his own pocket or become liable therefor, and. then look to the property attached for reimbursement. The stipulation authorized him to do so if he chose, but he does not seem to have so chosen.

The sheriff had agreed to do nothing. He had entered upon the premises rightfully as an officer seizing the property of the Beflector Company. The Beflector Company were at that time rightfully in possession of the premises, and the sheriff by virtue of their right of possession entered upon the premises. He in no manner recognized the rights of the landlord or agreed to become liable for the rent; and it is clear that, in all the conversations between Whitman and the deputy, all .that the deputy intended and all that Whitman had a right to understand, or did understand, was that he would get his money out of the property attached, and that this was ample to meet all the charges which might be incurred against it And this undoubtedly was plaintiff’s idea when he procured these stipulations to be signed between .the parties to that action, and carried them to the sheriff to see whether he would recognize the obligations which were there

In these stipulations and in the conversations between the deputy and the plaintiff there is not a scintilla of evidence going to show that there was any understanding that the sheriff was to be personally responsible.

It is true that the plaintiff states that he made demands upon the sheriff for rent, and that the sheriff stated he could not pay the same. But it also appears in that connection that this demand was made because the sheriff had received money on account of his charges and expenses.

This would seem clearly to show that there was no expectation upon Whitman’s part, at this time at least, that the sheriff should pay out of his own pocket this rent looking to whatever lien he might have upon the property in question to secure himself for such advances.

The fact also that the sheriff taxed the rent in his bill of costs was no acknowledgment upon his part of the liability. It was only doing that which the parties had requested him to do by these stipulations which had been entered into undoubtedly by and with the consent of Whitman.

Under these circumstances it is difficult to see exactly at what time or period the defendant assumed the relation of tenant towards the plaintiff. As has already been said he went into possession as holding an attachment against the property of the ¡Reflector Company, which company was entitled to the possession of the premises in question. lie remained in possession after their lease had expired, but he in no manner recognized the plaintiff to be his landlord, and in no manner assumed any obligation to pay the plaintiff as tenant for the use and occupation of the premises in question. He was only willing to secure as far as lay in his power to the plaintiff the value of such use and occupation pursuant to the stipulations of the parties out of the property which he held under the attachment. And it seems to be clear that neither the plaintiff nor the sheriff understood that any individual liability was to be incurred by the sheriff, but that the plaintiff was to be paid the value of the use and occupation of these premises by the sheriff out of the attached property.

These circumstances rebut any presumption which might otherwise arise that the conventional relation of landlord and tenant was intended to be established between the plaintiff and defendant. The sheriff was in possession with a large amount of property against which if the attachments were upheld he had. his claim for charges, and that that was the source from which all these expenses were to be paid these stipulations entered into between the parties with the knowledge and consent of the plaintiff seem sufficiently to prove. And there is not a scintilla of evidence tending to show' that the sheriff at any time recognized the plaintiff as his landlord or that he intended to occupy in any way the position of tenant. Neither is there any evidence that the plaintiff ever expected the defendant to obligate himself for the payment

As already stated, whatever claims for rent were made against the sheriff were made because of the fact that the sheriff had received money from the parties to the original litigation on account of the expenses which he had been put to in reference to the care and custody of the property.

We think, therefore, that no obligation has been established upon the part of the defendant to pay to the plaintiff the rent of the premises in question.

The judgment and order appealed from should be reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to appellant to abide the event.

The appeal from the order denying motion for new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence in view of the conclusion to which we have come it is not necessary to consider, and such appeal should be dismissed without costs.

Beady and Daniels, JJ., concur.