Pruitt Office MacHines, Inc. v. Liberty National Bank of Chicago

Plaintiff’s complaint consisted of two counts, one in equity alleging a vendor’s lien and seeking to foreclose it, and one at law to recover $4,000 claimed to be due under the terms of a lease. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the equity count. The court sustained the motion and dismissed “the complaint in chancery,” leaving for trial the issue in law. From this, plaintiff appealed.

Plaintiff was the lessee of a four-story building at La Salle, and Hubbard streets, in the City of Chicago. The lease in question was for a period of ten years commencing July 1, 1938. The lessor, if it sold…