Hyperlawhypertext legal database Henrietta Church v. Wright 74 N.Y. St. Rep. 161

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Henrietta Church v. Wright

74 N.Y. St. Rep. 161 Court N.Y. App. Div. Decision date 1896-04-14 English

Delivered by MERWIN, J.

Contents

Majority

p. 161
Henrietta Church, Respt, v. Egbert S. Wright, App'lt.
(Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department,
Filed April 14, 1896.)

Headnote

1, Adverse possession—-Tenant.
The possession of a tenant in subordination to the title of the landlord continues not only during the running of the term, but is presumed to be such, and to remain unchanged, until twenty years after the end of the term, and notwithstanding any claim by the tenant or his successors of a hostile title, " "
2. Same—Rebuttal.
This presumption may be rebutted, but to do so effectively, and initiate an adverse holding, the tenant must surrender his possession to the landlord or do something equivalent to that and bring home to him knowledge of the adverse claim. ....
8. Same.
Judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent brought against a tenant by the landlord, does not terminate the lease or render the possession o£ the tenant adverse.
The denial of a motion by the owner of a judgment for leave to issue an execution on the ground that the rent and costs have been paid, where the title of the plaintiff, or the existence of the lease or the right of possession of plaintiff or her predecessor was not adjudicated thereon or involved, is not material on the issue of adverse possession.
6, Same.
If the granting of such order was discretionary, its denial would not affect the rights of the parties in a subsequent action.
Appeal from a judgment in favor of plaintiff, awarding to her certain land.
W. & G. W. Youmans, for app’lt ; Hun & Johnston, for resp’t.

This is an action of ejectment, and by the judgment the plaintiff recovers the possession of about thirty-one acres, of which the defendant has been in possession since 1858. The main question here is whether the referee erred in holding

p. 162
that the defendant had not made out the defense of adverse possession. The action was commenced April 3. 1894. On the 13tb January, 1796, Stephen Van Rensselaer was the owner and in possession of a farm in the town of Berne, of which the premises in question are a part At that date Van Rensselaer and one Thomas Hayes mutually executed, sealed, and delivered an indenture called a “ manorial lease in perpetuity," which provided for the payment of certain yearly rent bv Hayes, his heirs and assigns, and gave to Van Rensselaer, his heirs and assigns, in the usual form, the right to re-enter for nonpayment of rent Hayes entered into possession under the lease. On the 29th March, 1858, John Youngs, by warranty deed, conveyed to the defendant in this action forty-seven acres, part of the original farm, which included the premises here recovered. In this deed, after the description, there was the following clause : “ Subject only to all demands that may be made a lien thereafter by Stephen Yan Rensselaer or his heirs from this date.” On the 18th day of April, 1864, Stephen Yan Rensselaer, son of the original grantor, and who had become the owner of all his rights in the property and the covenants and conditions in the deed, commenced in the supreme court an action of ejectment against the defendant, Wright, to recover the possession of the farm, for and by reason of a breach of the covenant for the payment of rent, and on the 24th November, 1866, a judgment was duly entered awarding to the plaintiff therein the possession of that part of the farm of which Wright was in possession under said lease, and which was the same covered by the deed from Youngs. On the 2d May, 1864, Stephen Van Rensselaer transferred all his interest in the property and covenants to James Kidd and Peter Cagger, and on the 8th July, 1878, Walter S. Church became the owner of the same, and thereafter, and before the commencement of this action, the plaintiff became the owner of the same. It is found by the referee that no rent has been paid for or on account of the premises here recovered since 1858; that at the time of the commencement of the action the defendant, was in the actual occupation of the same under said lease; that the defendant entered into possession thereof under a claim of title, exclusive of any other right, founding said claim upon the deed from Youngs as being a conveyance thereof, and had been in the continual possession thereof under the same claim ever since the year 1858. As matter of law the referee found that the judgment of 1866 terminated the lease, and that after the entry thereof no rent accrued upon or under the lease, and that the evidence failed co establish an adverse possession for twenty years by the defendant as against the plaintiff.

It is very clear that the possession of the defendant was subservient to the lease, at least down to the time of the entry of the judgment in 1866. It had been recognized by him in a deed of a portion of the premises in 1858. The presumption was that he was in under the lease. Bradt v. Church, 110 N. Y. 537 ; 18 St. Rep. 551 . That such was the fact is in substance conceded. It is, however, claimed by the defendant that by the judgment the

p. 163
lease was terminated, and that at the date of its entry an adverse possession by the defendant commenced to run, which, after the lapse of twenty years, formed for him a perfect defense. The claim of the plaintiff is that, if the lease was terminated by the judgment, the plaintiff is entitled to the benefit of the provision of section 373 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and that adverse possession would not commence to run as against the plaintiff until the expiration of twenty years thereafter, and so had not continued for twenty years before the commencement of this action. Section 373 is as follows:
‘Where the relation of landlord and tenant has existed between any persons, the possession of the tenant is deemed the possession of the landlord, until the expiration of twenty years after the termination of the tenancy; or, where there has been no written lease, until the expiration or twenty years after the last payment of rent; notwithstanding that the tenant has acquired another title, or has claimed to hold adversely to his landlord. But this presumption shall not be made, after the periods prescribed in this section.”

This section has received judicial consideration in several cases, Whiting v. Edmunds, 94 N. Y. 309 ; Bedlow v. Dock Co., 112 id, 265; 20 St. Rep. 707 ; Church v. Schoonmaker, 115 N. Y. 570 ; 26 St. Rep. 779 ; Hasbrouck v. Burhans, 42 Hun, 376 . These cases support the proposition that under the section referred to presumptively adverse possession does not commence to run until twenty years after the expiration of the tenancy. The defendant, therefore, to sustain his view, must show something more than a simple termination of the tenancy. In the Whiting Case, 94 N. Y. 314 , it is said:

“ The possession of the tenant in subordination to the title of the landlord continues not only during the running of the term, but is presumed to be such, and to remain unchanged, until twenty years after the end of the term, and notwithstanding any claim by the tenant or his successors of a hostile title. Code, § 86; Code Civ. Proc. § 373. This presumption may be rebutted, but to do so effectively, and initiate an adverse holding, the tenant must surrender the possession to the landlord, or do something equivalent to that, and bring home to him knowledge of the adverse claim. 1 Washb. Real Prop. (3d Ed.) 492; Jackson v. Stiles, 1 Cow. 575 ; Thayer v. Society of United Brethren, 20 Pa. St. 62 ; Towne v. Butterfield, 97 Mass. 105 .”

Has the defendant met the requirements of this rule? The referee, in effect, finds that he has not. The defendant argues that the act of the plaintiff or her predecessor in entering the judgment was of such a character that necessarily thereafter the possession of the defendant was adversé. It is to be observed that the action was ejectment fdr the nonpayment of rent. In such an action, under the law as it then stood (1 Rev. St. pt. 3, c. 8, tit. 9, §§ 32-34), the tenant, at any time before judgment, could, by the payment of the rent in arrear and the costs, stop all further proceedings in the cause. If at any time after the judgment, within six months after possession of the premises had been

p. 164
taken by the landlord under any execution issued upon the judgment, the tenant paid or tendered the rent in arrear at the time of such payment and the costs, all further proceedings in the cause ceased, and “ such premises shall be restored to the lessee, who shall hold and enjoy the demised premises without any new lease thereof, according to the terms of the original demise.” In case the rent in arrear and costs remained unpaid for six months after execution, then the lessee and his assigns, and all other persons deriving title under him, were barred of all relief in law or equity, and the landlord thenceforth held the jpremises free and discharged from the lease. Such being the character and effect of the judgment and the rights of defendant thereunder, it is apparent that the cpntinuance by defendant in possession was not necessarily hostile to the rights of plaintiff or her predecessor, and would not of itself initiate adverse possession. It would not indicate that the defendant repudiated all right or claim of the plaintiff. The entry of the judgment did not bar the defendant, and the plaintiff therein never obtained execution on his judgment, and never obtained possession under it. The defendant, for aught that appears, never relinquished his right to redeem, and as late as 1888 it appeal’s that on a motion for leave to issue execution the defendant claimed that the judgment, rent, and costs had been fully paid and satisfied. As the judgment was never executed, and the defendant neyer relinquished his right to redeem, I see no basis for the argument that as matter of law defendant’s adverse possession should be deemed to commence at the date of the entry of the judgment. It is not, I think, clear that the lease was terminated by the unexecuted judgment of 1866. If it was not, the defendant here has no defense to the present action. His adverse claim, such as it was, was founded on a conveyance that recognized the lease. Besides, his status was fixed by the judgment. If that operated to terminate the lease, no good reason is apparent for relieving the defendant from the effect of section 373, Code Civ. Proc. He never surrendered the possession to the landlord, nor did anything equivalent to it.

The defendant offered to show that in November, 1888, a motion was made by the owner of the judgment of 1836 for leave to issue execution, and that this motion' was, on appeal to the general term, denied. It was not suggested that the title of the plaintiff, or the existence of the lease, or the right of possession of plaintiff or her predecessor was adjudicated upon or involved. If the question was whether the defendant had actually or presumptively paid the rent Van Rensselaer v. Wright, 56 Hun, 39 ; 29 St. Rep. 469 , and so relieved himself from the judgment, that would not be important for defendant on the issues here. If the granting of the order was discretionary. Id., 121 N Y. 626 ; 31 St. Rep. 897 , its denial would not affect the rights here. It is not apparent that any error was committed in excluding the offered evidence. No other question needs to be specially considered. The judgment should be affirmed. Judgment affirmed, with costs,

concur, except LANDON, J., dissenting.

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