Healy v. Tidewater Oil Co.
| Decision Date | 20 May 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 185-A,185-A |
| Citation | 104 R.I. 81,242 A.2d 298 |
| Parties | John M. HEALY et ux. v. TIDEWATER OIL COMPANY. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This is an action of trespass and ejectment to recover possession of premises owned by the plaintiffs and leased to the defendant for a term of years for the operation of a gasoline service station. The case was tried to a jury in the superior court, and at the close of all the evidence the defendant moved for a directed verdict pursuant to the provisions of 50(a) R.C.P. Decision on the motion for direction was reserved by the trial justice pursuant to the provisions of rule 50(b), and the case was submitted to the jury. The jury subsequently reported that it was unable to agree on a verdict and was discharged by the trial justice, who thereupon granted the reserved motion for direction of verdict. Judgment entered for the defendant, and from that judgment the plaintiffs have prosecuted an appeal to this court.
It appears from the record that John M. Healy, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, entered into an agreement on March 28, 1950, under the terms of which he would lease to Tidewater Oil Company, hereinafter referred to as defendant a service station owned by him and located in the city of Cranston. The lease provided for an original term of 10 years and for three renewal terms of five years each, this option for renewal being subject to the condition that it be exercised by a notice in writing sent by the lessee to the lessor not less than 60 days prior to the expiration date of the term. The parties put into evidence two documents that obviously, as originally prepared, were duplicates and contained the same provisions for the beginning, the duration, and the end of the term of the lease. According to these documents as originally prepared, the term was to be for 10 years commencing on July 1, 1950 and ending on June 30, 1960.
However, as a result of changes made by interlineation on the fact of each of these documents, they differ as to the termination date of the term of the lease. From the copy put into evidence by defendant, it appears that the altered agreement provides for the term to commence on September 1, 1950 and end on August 31, 1960. The changes made by this interlineation are initialed by both of the parties.
From the document put into evidence by plaintiff, however, it appears that while the term of the lease was to begin on the first day of September 1950, it was to end on June 30, 1960. Again, the interlineation changing the commencement date is initialed by both parties. In other words, the document put into evidence by plaintiff differs on its face from that put into evidence by defendant in that it does not disclose that any change was made in fixing June 30, 1960 as the termination date of the ten-year term of the lease.
We have in evidence two documents, each of which purports to constitute the lease entered into by the parties. They differ only in the date set out therein for the ending of the first ten-year term. This difference becomes important because defendant notified plaintiff of its intention to exercise its first right of renewal on June 27, 1960. Clearly, if the parties intended the term to end on June 30, the notice of intention to exercise the right of renewal was not filed prior to the sixty-day period provided for in the lease. On the other hand, if the termination date was intended to be August 31, 1960, defendant's notice of intention to exercise the right of renewal was timely.
The trial justice appears to have granted defendant's motion...
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