Collins v. Cranford
| Citation | 396 So.2d 587 |
| Decision Date | 11 March 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 8076,8076 |
| Parties | Donald L. COLLINS, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Doris C. CRANFORD et al., Defendants and Appellees. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Gahagan & Gahagan, H. C. Gahagan, Jr., Natchitoches, for plaintiff and appellant.
Whitehead & McCoy, Charles R. Whitehead, Jr., Natchitoches and Horton & Jones, Donald Horton, Jr., Coushatta, for defendants and appellees.
Before CULPEPPER, FORET and SWIFT, JJ.
Plaintiff-lessee brings this action for a declaratory judgment decreeing the existence and validity of an agricultural lease on property owned by the defendants-lessors. In their answer, defendants denied the existence of the lease. In the alternative, in the event the court finds there is a lease, defendants by reconventional demand seek judgment declaring the lease terminated by failure of plaintiff to maintain the property in good condition as required by the lease. The trial court found plaintiff did in fact have a valid lease. However, on the reconventional demand, the court declared the lease dissolved due to plaintiff's failure to maintain the property in good condition. Plaintiff appeals.
On appeal, plaintiff's principal contention is that defendants' reconventional demand for dissolution of the lease should be rejected because defendants did not put plaintiff in default for the passive breach of the lease.
The evidence shows that in early 1978 plaintiff had expressed an interest in leasing approximately 214 acres of farm land located in Natchitoches Parish owned by his grand-uncle, Claude Collins. A verbal lease agreement was reached between the parties in March of 1978. Mr. Claude Collins, who was 90 years of age at the time, directed his son, Rhese Collins, to prepare a written lease reflecting the verbal contract made with plaintiff. The lease was to be for a term of five years with yearly rentals of $600. The lease was written and it was signed by Rhese Collins as agent for Claude Collins. It was not recorded, and the original is not in evidence, but a photo copy is in the record.
Claude Collins died on December 31, 1978. While the lease was still in force, plaintiff learned that the heirs of Claude Collins intended to sell the property under lease. Plaintiff attempted unsuccessfully on several occasions to obtain the original draft of the lease agreement from Rhese Collins so that he could record it. When later informed by defendants that no valid lease existed, plaintiff brought this action for a declaratory judgment decreeing the existence and enforceability of the lease.
The trial judge correctly found there was a valid lease agreement between plaintiff and Claude Collins in March of 1978. However, he found this lease was terminated by plaintiff's failure to comply with its terms. The pertinent provision of the lease agreement reads as follows:
Testimony introduced by defendants described a general deterioration in the condition of the land since the beginning of plaintiff's lease. According to the defendants, much of the area leased to plaintiff is now grown over with weeds and bushes. Several fences were down or in a state of disrepair and the levee area had been weakened by erosion and potholes. Many areas, including some roads, appeared as if they had not been bushhogged for several years. The district judge found that the major consideration for the lease agreement was that stated in the provisions whereby the lessee agreed to maintain the premises in good condition. The court concluded plaintiff had failed to comply with the terms of the lease. We have no difficulty in concluding, as did the trial court, that plaintiff breached the lease agreement.
Plaintiff's failure to do what he agreed to do under the lease agreement was a passive breach, LSA-C.C. Article 1931. Plaintiff was entitled to be put in default for this passive breach. See LSA-C.C. Article 1933 which requires a putting in default for passive breach, except in certain types of contracts not applicable here. See also Hibbert v. Mudd, 294 So.2d 518 (La.1974) and Wilson v. Sun Oil Company, 290 So.2d 844 (La.1973) applying this rule to oil and gas leases, and Noel Estate v. Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation, 188 La. 45, 175 So. 744 (1937), and Inabnett v. Pruett, 229 So.2d 150 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1969) involving leases of buildings. We are aware that the...
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