Friis-Hansen & Co. v. Imperatrice

BARNARD, P. J. On March 1, 1948, the plaintiffs leased about 500 acres of land to one Maggini for a term of five years. The lease provided that the lessee should pay as rent 25 per cent of all crops grown; that the lessee should not assign the lease without the written consent of the lessor ; that the lessee should accept the premises “in their present condition,” (including a power plant and pump to be installed as soon as possible and for which orders had already been placed); that the lessee should plant to cotton and other crops “as many acres as can be irrigated from the water supply,” and pay for all water, power or fuel to be used in irrigating the land “in a farm-like manner”; that at the expiration of the lease the lessee should surrender the premises “in as good condition as when received, reasonable use [545]and wear thereof excepted”; and that the lessor should not be liable for any damage to any property “in or upon the demised premises however caused, other than by the wrongful act of the Lessor, and the Lessee hereby agrees and undertakes to hold and save the Lessor harmless therefrom.”

Shortly after the execution of the lease the plaintiffs installed a pump and a butane engine on the property, and Maggini farmed the property until August 31, 1949. Shortly after the installation of the butane engine Maggini replaced it with a Diesel engine. At some time prior to August 31, 1949, Maggini replaced the Diesel engine with an electric motor which he had purchased under a conditional sale contract.

On August 31, 1949, Maggini assigned this lease to the defendant Imperatriee, who signed an acceptance of the assignment in which he agreed to carry out and perform all the terms and conditions of the lease, and the plaintiffs signed a consent to that assignment. Imperatrice farmed the place from that time until the expiration of the lease. During the crop season of 1950 the flow of water from the well fell off and late that year Imperatriee had the pump taken out of the well in an effort to find out the cause of the trouble. About December 1, 1950, the electric motor which had been installed by Maggini was repossessed by the vendor thereof because of Maggini’s default in payment. In January, 1951, Imperatrice bought and installed another electric motor and another pump, and made extensive repairs and improvements to the well. He then continued to operate the property until the lease expired. He vacated the property in February, 1953, and removed the pump and motor which he had installed, claiming them as his own.