Rector, Etc., of Trinity Church v. . Higgins
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal from order of the Superior Court of the city of Hew York setting aside a verdict in favor of plaintiff and granting a new trial.
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Appeal from order of the Superior Court of the city of Hew York setting aside a verdict in favor of plaintiff and granting a new trial. The action is upon a covenant in a lease of premises in the city of Hew York, by the plaintiffs to the defendant, whereby the defendant covenanted, among other things, to “ bear, pay and discharge all such duties, taxes, assessments and payments, of what nature or kind soever, as should, during the term aforesaid, be imposed on, or grow due or payable out of, or for, or by reason of the said devised premises, or any part or parcel thereof.” The term was…
1Opinion of the Court
Leonard, 0.
The covenant of the defendant is affirmative and positive, not collateral or secondary, in its terms. He covenants to “ bear, pay and discharge all taxes and assessments,” etc., as an obligation or debt of his own, and the language conveys no idea that the plaintiffs are first to bear and pay, before the demand becomes obligatory upon the defendant for payment.
The covenant is broken when the defendant neglects to pay taxes or assessments duly imposed. The defendant is not at liberty to say that it is the debt of the plaintiffs; let them first pay it, and I will then pay them. It is…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Churchill v. HuntNew York Supreme Court · 1846
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