Welles v. Castles
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Action of contract to recover the rent reserved in a written lease of a shop in Lowell, by which the lessee covenanted to pay the rent, and deliver up the premises at the end of the term in as good condition (reasonable use and wearing thereof and damage by fire or other unavoidable casualties excepted) as the same were in at the commencement of the lease; and in which was the following clause : “ Provided however that, in case the premises or any part thereof shall during…
Read the full summary
Action of contract to recover the rent reserved in a written lease of a shop in Lowell, by which the lessee covenanted to pay the rent, and deliver up the premises at the end of the term in as good condition (reasonable use and wearing thereof and damage by fire or other unavoidable casualties excepted) as the same were in at the commencement of the lease; and in which was the following clause : “ Provided however that, in case the premises or any part thereof shall during said term be destroyed or damaged by fire or other unavoidable casualty, so that the same shall thereby be rendered unfit…
1Opinion of the CourtBigelow, J.
There being no covenant on the part of the lessor to keep the premises in repair, the defendant is liable, on his covenant, for the full amount of the rent due at the commencement of this suit, unless he can bring himself within the terms of the proviso in the lease, by which he is exempted from the payment thereof in case of damage to or destruction of the premises occasioned by “ unavoidable casualty.” This phrase is in very common use in leases in this country, and has, as we suppose, a well settled and understood meaning. It does not signify a mere want of repair, arising from lapse of…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Mills v. Baehr's ExecutorsNew York Supreme Court · 1840