Los Angeles Furniture Co. v. Hansen

JAMES, J.

This action was one of claim and delivery by which recovery of possession of a certain lot of furniture was sought to be secured. The judgment was in favor of plaintiff and defendant has appealed.

[1]

The complaint was in the usual form appropriate to the character of the action and contained all the essential allegations. Demand for possession was alleged to have been made on the fourth day of May, 1917; that possession was refused to be delivered to the plaintiff by the defendant, and the value of the property was alleged to be the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars. By an amendment made to the complaint the following allegation was added: “That defendant, without the consent of plaintiff, now detains said personal property from the possession of the plaintiff to its damage in the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars, the value of the property, and the further sum of one hundred dollars per month, the reasonable usable value of the said property, from the said fourth day of May, 1917, as damages for the detention thereof.”

It is first contended that the complaint failed to state a cause of action because it was not in terms alleged that the damages had not been paid. We think that an express allegation of nonpayment of the damages accruing subsequent to the time that the detention of the property became unlawful was not necessary, and that such a .condition would be implied from the allegations made.

[7]

[2]

The second point urged is that the court by its judgment awarded damages in excess of those permitted by law, when it included the following term in the judgment: “The additional sum of ninety dollars per month from the fourth day of May, 1917, damages for the unlawful detention of said furniture, until said property is delivered to the plaintiff or the value thereof paid. ’ ’ In the findings of fact it was determined that ninety dollars per month was “the reasonable usable value of the said property.” That damages may be awarded to compensate the person entitled to the possession of personal property for the time that it shall be unlawfully detained by a defendant, is not and cannot be disputed. That the reasonable value of the use of the personal property is a proper measure in particular cases to be applied, we think also must be affirmed. However, we do not believe that it lies within the power of the court in determining such damages to provide that the same shall continue to accumulate at a monthly rate after the date of the judgment, and for that reason we are of opinion that the judgment is in part erroneous. The unauthorized provision, however, may be stricken out without impairing the judgment in its determinative effect upon all material issues involved.