Woods v. Western Holding Corporation

• Decision Date: 23 March 1949
• Docket Number: No. 13780.,13780.
• Citation: 173 F.2d 655
• Parties: WOODS, Acting Housing Expediter, v. WESTERN HOLDING CORPORATION.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

173 F.2d 655 (1949)

WOODS, Acting Housing Expediter, v. WESTERN HOLDING CORPORATION.

No. 13780.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

March 23, 1949.

Carroll W. Berry and G. C. Downey, both of Kansas City, Mo., Ed Dupree, Hugo V. Prucha and Cecil H. Lichliter, all of Washington, D. C., and Lowell D. Gibbons and H. C. Happ, both of Dallas, Tex., for appellant.

William G. Boatright, of Kansas City, Mo., for appellee.

Before GARDNER, Chief Judge, and RIDDICK and COLLET, Circuit Judges.

GARDNER, Chief Judge.

This was an action brought by appellant, Acting Housing Expediter, seeking to enjoin appellee from charging and collecting over-ceiling rents and to prevent the eviction of tenants for failure to meet the demands of appellee for rental charges in excess of those established by the Housing Expediter. The parties will be referred to as they were designated in the trial court.

The properties involved are known as Casa Loma East and Casa Loma West, Kansas City, Missouri. Each building is nine stories high and has sixty-five units. In its answer defendant alleged that these particular properties were not subject to control because they had been decontrolled by congressional act. The action was brought under the Housing and Rent Act of June 30, 1947, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 1881 et seq. Section 202(c) of that Act defined controlled housing accommodations and the exceptions to such control as follows: "The term `controlled housing accommodations' means housing accommodations in any defense-rental area, except that it does not include (1) those housing accommodations, in any establishment which is commonly known as a hotel in the community in which it is located, which are occupied by persons who are provided customary hotel services such as maid service, furnishing and laundering of linen, telephone and secretarial or desk service, use and upkeep of furniture and fixtures, and bellboy service."

Section 204(d) of the Act provides, "The Housing Expediter is authorized to issue such regulations and orders, consistent with the provisions of this title, as he may deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this section and section 202(c)."

Regulations and interpretations were promulgated by the Housing Expediter under date September 5, 1947, which contain the following: "There is no all-embracing definition in the regulation of what is commonly known as a hotel, and consequently each decision must be based upon the test of whether or not the particular establishment is commonly known as a hotel in the community in which it is located."

The parties entered into a written stipulation as to certain facts which by reference the court included in its findings of fact. Each of the parties offered oral testimony and documentary evidence supplementing the stipulated facts. The court found the issues in favor of the defendant and entered judgment of dismissal.

In seeking reversal plaintiff contends that the solution of the issues presented is dependent upon the answer to two questions: first, whether or not the properties were on June 30, 1947, commonly known as hotels in the community in which they are located, and second, whether or not these properties on that date provided the occupants of the housing accommodations with such customary hotel services as are habitually furnished in the community; to-wit, Kansas City, Missouri. The trial court determined both of these questions in the affirmative but the findings in that regard are challenged by the plaintiff.

The findings of the trial court are presumptively correct and should not be set aside on appeal unless clearly erroneous and due regard must be given the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses. Rule 52(a), Federal Rules Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. The trial court made detailed findings covering all the issues. These may be summarized as follows:

The Casa Lomas, the two properties here involved, on and prior to June 30, 1947 and thereafter, were commonly known as hotels in the community in which they are located, and were occupied by persons who were provided customary hotel services such as maid service, furnishing and laundering of linen, telephone and secretarial or desk service, use and upkeep of furniture and fixtures and bellboy service, within the meaning of the Housing and Rent Act of 1947; that for many years prior to June 30, 1947, these properties were represented and held out by the owner and operator as being hotels; that they complied with the Missouri statutory provisions regulating the licensing and operation of hotels; that they were advertised by various methods as hotels; that the owner and operator consistently took the position, in dealing with public authorities and with the general public, that the establishments were hotels. That during said time all occupants of these establishments were received as such by signing the usual and customary hotel registration card in common use throughout the United States, and for many years prior to said date none of the occupants was offered or granted leases but all paid the established rates for occupancy on either a monthly, weekly or daily basis, and that the relation of landlord and tenant did not exist, but the relation of hotel keeper or inn keeper and guest did exist. That there were various types of hotels in the community, one being the commercial hotel, another the apartment hotel, and another the family hotel. That apartment hotels are generally divided into units containing one or more rooms with bath and kitchenette and dinette facilities in which the occupants may, if they choose, prepare their own meals, and that occupants of apartment hotels receive the usual and customary hotel services, consisting, among others, of those enumerated in the Housing and Rent Act of 1947. That all of these types of hotels are commonly known and understood in the community to be hotels, not only from the standpoint of the general public but from the standpoint of those who by virtue of their business experience are especially qualified to inform the court respecting such matter, and by the laws of the State of Missouri, both statutory and judicial. That plaintiff has repeatedly recognized the existence of these various types of hotels in the Kansas City community and has repeatedly recognized that they were decontrolled and that other apartment hotels are decontrolled, in which the essential characteristics not only of the buildings and equipment but of the services furnished, are legally and factually indistinguishable from the Casa Lomas, the properties here in question.

Many of these findings find support in the stipulation of the parties. In the stipulation the properties are described as, "* * * two buildings in Kansas City, Missouri, located at 103 and 107 Ward Parkway (sometimes called West Ward Parkway); that there is a canopy (canvas supported by a steel frame) extending from the front door of each building across the sidewalk and to the curb of the street; that on the canopy of the east building (103 Ward Parkway) there are printed the words `Casa Loma East'; that on the canopy in front of the west building (107 Ward Parkway) there are printed the words `Casa Loma West'; that these buildings are frequently referred to as Casa Loma East and Casa Loma West respectively. These buildings were constructed in 1928-29; each is nine stories in height; each contains 65 units, and each has a lobby extending across the entire front of each building on the ground floor and approximately 30 feet in depth, with an office in each lobby; that the buildings are adjacent to each other, being separated by approximately 20 to 30 feet; that there are no physical connections between the two buildings. * * *

"On and prior to June 30, 1947, and thereafter, the said 130 units consisted of rooms or suites of the following types: (then follows a detailed description of the rooms)."

On and prior to June 30, 1947, and thereafter, all units in the two establishments were supplied with furniture, furnishings and equipment consisting principally of furniture, bedding, bed pads, blankets, spreads, sheets, pillows, pillow cases, glass curtains or venetian blinds, draperies, carpets, tables, divans, bath mats, towels, shower-bath curtains, ironing boards and covers, lamps, lamp shades, electric light globes and equipment for kitchenette. The occupants were supplied with linen and laundry. The washable linen was supplied daily to units when transients were accommodated, and all towels were furnished daily to all occupants. Defendant furnished to the occupants of each unit daily maid service. It provided the services of twenty-six employees for the operation and servicing of these establishments, the employees being classified as follows: one resident manager, one resident housekeeper, eight maids, two housemen, one janitor, five elevator operators, seven clerk-telephone operators and one general maintenance man.

Each unit was furnished with a telephone, with switchboard in the lobby. An employee was kept on duty at the desk or office in the lobby in each building twenty-four hours per day and acted as telephone operator in addition to other duties. The telephone numbers of these establishments have at all times been listed in the telephone book published by the telephone company in Greater Kansas City and listed in the classified section of the telephone directory under the classification "hotels," and not under the classification "apar...