Basin Park Hotel Association v. Arkansas Co.
| Decision Date | 05 November 1923 |
| Docket Number | 221 |
| Parties | BASIN PARK HOTEL ASSOCIATION v. ARKANSAS COMPANY |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Carroll Circuit Court, Western District; W. A. Dickson Judge; reversed.
STATEMENT OF FACTS.
The Arkansas Company, a domestic corporation, leased the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, Ark., to the Basin Park Hotel Association, operating under a declaration of trust, for a term of three years. Before the first year of the lease had expired, the lessee was evicted from the premises under a mortgage foreclosure suit brought against the lessor. After the eviction, the lessor, which is the appellee in this appeal, brought suit against the lessee, the appellant herein, to recover the sum of $ 483.95, the value of certain supplies furnished the lessee by the lessor under the terms of the lease. The answer denied liability, and a counterclaim was filed by the lessee against the lessor for damages for an alleged breach of the lease.
It appears from the record that the lease in question was executed on the 6th day of March, 1919, and that the lessee was placed in possession of the hotel under the lease. The lease provided for the payment of rent in the sum of $ 300 per month in advance. It also gave to the lessee the option to lease the hotel and its contents under the same terms for a period of two years longer at a rental of $ 350 per month upon giving written notice to the lessor of the intention of the lessee to take advantage of the option forty days before the first of April, 1920.
The lessor had given a mortgage upon the lots upon which the hotel was situated and upon all the personal property in the hotel and used in connection with it. Foreclosure was had upon this mortgage in the Federal court, and the lessee was evicted from the premises in December, 1919. Thus far the facts are undisputed.
Evidence was introduced by the lessee tending to show the value of the unexpired term of the lease and of the expenses and improvements made on the leased property. The evidence for the lessee also tended to show that the value of the option to renew the lease was worth $ 5,000.
On the part of the lessor it was shown that the rental value of the leased premises had deteriorated on account of certain conditions which were described in detail by the witnesses and that the value of the unexpired term of the lease was less than the rental value provided in the lease. Other evidence will be stated or referred to under appropriate headings in the opinion.
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of $ 558.95 and also found for the plaintiff against the defendant on its counterclaim. Judgment was therefore rendered in favor of the plaintiff, and to reverse that judgment this appeal has been prosecuted.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded.
J. N. Saye and W. G. Riddick, for appellant.
Charles D. James, for appellee.
The appellants were not entitled to recover special damages, if any were proved, except and only such damages by reason of their eviction by paramount title as would compensate them for the repair of the hotel and fixtures therein, which would enable them to occupy the hotel more profitably. 110 Ark. 509; 132 Ark. 599; 151 Ark. 225; 102 Ark. 113. Where a tenant is unlawfully evicted by the landlord before the expiration of his lease, he may recover the money expended by him in the repair of the building and fixtures. 132 Ark. 599; 151 Ark. 255. The measure of damages in an action of this kind is the difference between the rental value of the demised premises and the rental price named in the lease. 102 Ark. 113; 75 Ark. 589.
HART, J., (after stating the facts).
This is the second appeal in the case, and the opinion on the former appeal is referred to for a more detailed statement of the case. Basin Park Hotel Assn. v. Arkansas Co., 151 Ark. 322, 236 S.W. 275.
The electric light globes in the electric light fixtures were in the various rooms of the hotel at the time the lessor delivered possession of the hotel to the lessee under the terms of the lease, and, as they wore out or became defective, new ones were supplied by the lessee. These globes were screwed in the electric light fixtures, and remained there at the time the purchaser under the mortgage foreclosure decree took possession of the mortgaged premises. In other words, when the lessee was evicted under the mortgage foreclosure proceedings, the electric light globes were left screwed in the electric light fixtures and passed into the possession of the purchaser under the foreclosure proceedings. The value of these electric light globes was $ 114.80.
The lessor recovered their value from the lessee in this action. This was error. As we have just seen, the lessee was given possession of these globes...
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