Smith v. Leventhal, 1334.

• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Quinn
• Citation: Smith v. Leventhal, 97 A.2d 139 (D.C. 1953)
• Decision Date: 29 May 1953
• Docket Number: No. 1334.,1334.
• Parties: SMITH v. LEVENTHAL et al.

97 A.2d 139

SMITH v. LEVENTHAL et al.

No. 1334.

Municipal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Argued May 4, 1953.

Decided May 29, 1953.

Arthur L. Willcher, Washington, D. for appellant.

Joseph H. Schneider, Washington, D. C., with whom ken Lindas and Albert Ginsberg, Washington, D. C., were on the brief for appellees.

Before LAYTON, Chief Judge, a n(i 11001) and QUINN, Associate Judges.

QUINN, Associate ledge.

Appellant sued for damages resulting from alleged wrongful eviction. after filing their answer, the appellees made a motion for summary judgment. This appeal is from the granting of that motion.

The complaint alleged that plaintiff was a tenant of an apartment and that defendants had evicted him without notice or just cause. Plaintiff claimed both compensatory and punitive damages. In their answer the defendants stated that plaintiff's sister was the tenant of the apartment in question, and specifically denied any tenancy in plaintiff. They alleged further that plaintiff had knowledge of a suit for possession by defendants against his sister; that plaintiff had appeared in a representative capacity for her in the Municipal Court for the purpose of agreeing to a judgment for possession with a stay of execution. Attached to their answer was a copy of the stipulation entered into by the parties in that suit agreeing to a judgment for possession with a two-month stay of execution. The stipulation was signed by Smith's sister, by one of the appellees, Louis Leventhal, and by their respective attorneys. Nowhere in the possessory action does the name of the present appellant appear nor was he a party to the proceeding.

The basis of appellees' motion for summary judgment was that no landlord and tenant relationship existed between the parties. As there were no affidavits or depositions filed, the court had before it, in considering the motion, only the pleadings consisting of the complaint and answer and the prior stipulation attached thereto. Counsel for appellees states in his brief and in his oral argument that the trial court also had the entire files of the prior suits, but the only additional items before this court are the complaints for possession filed against appellant's sister and another person, and a rental agreement for the apartment signed by the sister with the previous owners back in 1943.¹

The only question to be decided on this appeal is whether there was a genuine issue as to any material fact. If there was, then the trial court was in error in granting summary judgment. The rules governing the granting of such motion are set forth in detail in Dewey v. Clark, 86 U.S.App.D.C. 137, 180 F.2d 766, and are sufficiently comprehensive to resolve the present case.² Both the rule itself³ and Dewey v. Clark state very clearly that the motion will be granted only if there is no genuine issue of fact. A purely formal denial will not create such an issue, and any doubts about the genuineness of the issue will be resolved against the moving party. It was not the purpose of the rule to deprive a party of his day in court,⁴ but it was merely intended to eliminate the necessity of trying cases which involve no real...