Woods v. D'AVINO

• Decision Date: 22 December 1948
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 2297.
• Citation: 81 F. Supp. 487
• Parties: WOODS v. D'AVINO et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

81 F. Supp. 487

WOODS v. D'AVINO et al.

Civ. No. 2297.

United States District Court D. Connecticut.

December 22, 1948.

Edwin J. Donovan, Rent Litigation Atty., Charles J. Delaney, Litigation Unit Atty., and Edmund M. Sweeney, Litigation Section Atty., all of Boston Mass., for plaintiff.

John A. Cooney, of New Haven, Conn., for defendants.

HINCKS, Chief Judge.

The plaintiff Housing Expediter brings this action against a landlord and her agent pursuant to Sections 204(a) and 206(b) of the Housing and Rent Act of 1947, 50 U.S. C.A.Appendix, §§ 1894(a), 1896(b), seeking a temporary and permanent injunction and a mandatory order of restitution for rent allegedly collected above the maximum legal rent.

Findings of Fact

1. The defendant, Mary A. D'Avino, is a resident of West Haven, Connecticut, and at the times hereinafter mentioned was the landlord of a certain dwelling, hereinafter referred to as "the premises", located at 36 Point Beach Drive, Milford, Connecticut, within the New Haven Defense-Rental Area.

2. The defendant, George C. Hancock, hereinafter called the agent, is a resident of New Haven, Connecticut, and was at the times hereinafter alleged the agent for the defendant, Mary A. D'Avino, in letting and collecting the rent for the premises and acted throughout within the scope of his authority.

3. Said premises constituted "Resort Housing" as defined in the Regulations under the Act. As such, they were subject to rent controls for the period from October 1, 1947 to May 31, 1948, but were not subject to rent controls during the period from June 1, 1947 to September 30, 1947.

4. The established maximum rent for the premises from October 1, 1947 to May 31, 1948, was $50 per month.

5. The agent advertised the premises as available to University students for rental for the period September 15, 1947 to June 15, 1948 and in June, 1947, in a telephone conversation with Robert G. Brown, hereinafter called the tenant, who had called him in response to the said advertisement, stated that the premises were available for the nine months from September 15, 1947 to June 15, 1948, at a rental of $720 for the period. The agent admitted that the rental requested averaged $80 per month, but explained that because of the O. P. A. regulations and the ceiling of $50 per month on the premises during the winter months from October 1, 1947 to May 31, 1948, in order to make up the total rent per month which the landlord desired two leases would be necessary, one for the winter months at $50 per month, the maximum legal rent, and one at a higher rent for the additional two weeks before and after the eight-month period of control which will hereinafter be referred to as the "marginal weeks." The tenant then told the agent that he already had accommodations available until October first and asked if it would be possible to get a lease as of October first, to which the agent replied in the negative, adding that in order to get a lease of the premises the tenant would have to rent as of September 15th.

6. On June 19, 1947, the tenant signed two leases, both as submitted by the agent in behalf of the landlord: one was for the rental of the premises from September 15, 1947 to September 30, 1947, and from June 1, 1948 through September 15, 1948, for the total rent of $1280, payable $160 upon signing, $160 on March 1, 1948, and $960 on or before June 1, 1948, with leave to terminate as of June 15th by written notice or by failing to make said payment of $960 on June first: the other provided for the rental of the premises from October 1, 1947 through May 31, 1948, for the total rental of $400, payable $50 per month.

7. The tenant thereafter occupied the premises from September 15, 1947 to June 13, 1948, and made payments of rent aggregating $720, which included all the payments called for in both leases except the payment of $960 due June 1st.

8. The plaintiff failed to prove that the landlord's charge for the marginal weeks exceeded the fair rental value of the premises.

As to this the only evidence of rental value was contained in the testimony of the agent himself who said that he explained to the tenant that "these houses rented some times for as much as $75 or $100 a week in the summer" and that he "discussed it with him on the basis that that particular house would rent for somewhere approximately $75 to $80 a week in the summer." After all, the government knew from my interlocutory memorandum in this case that I considered that the rental value of the premises had an important bearing on the issues. Notwithstanding, it offered no evidence at all on that issue. Under the circumstances, I do not feel that I should seize upon the somewhat vague testimony of a defendant as to a summer value of $80 to $100 per week as a satisfactory basis for an inference having...