Gaddis v. Dixie Realty Company
| Decision Date | 03 December 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 22696.,22696. |
| Citation | 136 US App. DC 403,420 F.2d 245 |
| Parties | Arstine GADDIS, Petitioner, v. DIXIE REALTY COMPANY, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Mr. Brian Michael Olmstead, Nahant, Mass., was on the brief for petitioner.
Before BAZELON, Chief Judge, and LEVENTHAL, Circuit Judge, in Chambers.
Petitioner Gaddis rented a house from the respondent which was subsequently condemned as dangerous to the health and safety of its occupants. Unable to obtain more suitable quarters, petitioner and her family remained in possession, but she eventually stopped paying her monthly rent of $190. Respondent sued for eviction. Petitioner defended on several grounds: She claimed respondent was barred from maintaining the suit by the condemnation proceedings, that respondent knowingly and fraudulently rented the facilities with full knowledge that the house was uninhabitable and infested with vermin, and that the rental contract was thus unconscionable and void. Moreover, petitioner made a claim against the respondent by way of set-off against the rent allegedly due on grounds that petitioner and her family suffered damages because of the unfit condition of the house.
Respondent obtained a directed verdict in the Court of General Sessions, and petitioner appealed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. During the pendency of the appeal, however, petitioner surrendered possession of the house and moved into public housing. Respondent in turn surrendered its claim for money judgment on the past rent due and asked the court to dismiss the appeal on grounds of mootness. The court found that petitioner vacated the house on her own volition and dismissed the appeal as moot, although the court did observe that the trial court was undoubtedly in error in ignoring the flagrant housing violation of the kind condemned in Brown v. Southall Realty Company, 237 A.2d 834 (D.C.C.A.1968). See, Gaddis v. Dixie Realty Company, 248 A.2d 820, 821 (D.C. C.A.1969).
Petitioner seeks review on the ground that the action of dismissing the appeal leaves in effect the underlying judgment of the Court of General Sessions, and that this will be res judicata of her action for damages.
We do not think it appropriate to grant leave to appeal for the purpose of exploring the issues tendered by petitioner as to mootness and res judicata. We do think it appropriate to exercise our certiorari-type jurisdiction in order to bring to the attention of the D.C. Court of Appeals the appellate procedure prescribed for the federal courts since the...
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Am. Bankers Ass'n v. Nat'l Credit Union Admin.
...discretion to raise the issue sua sponte , cf. Igonia v. Califano , 568 F.2d 1383, 1387 (D.C. Cir. 1977) ; Gaddis v. Dixie Realty Co. , 420 F.2d 245, 247 (D.C. Cir. 1969) (per curiam). Remand without vacatur is appropriate here.We conclude that the NCUA might be able to offer a satisfactory......
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...of possession ends the case or controversy when, as here, the landlord makes no claim for back rent. See Gaddis v. Dixie Realty Co., 136 U.S.App.D.C. 403, 420 F.2d 245 (1969). While it is true that Mrs. Robinson's departure under the circumstances described by Diamond might in some sense be......
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