Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/195/785/144812/
Timestamp: 2020-08-09 03:19:58
Document Index: 733609835

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 902', '§ 1', '§ 2', '§ 735', '§ 16', '§ 735', '§ 910', '§ 704', '§ 738', '§ 16']

Shapiro v. Christopher, 195 F.2d 785 (D.C. Cir. 1952) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › D.C. Circuit › 1952 › Shapiro v. Christopher
Shapiro v. Christopher, 195 F.2d 785 (D.C. Cir. 1952)
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - 195 F.2d 785 (D.C. Cir. 1952) Argued October 8, 1951
As Amended March 28, 1952
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Mark P. Friedlander, Washington, D. C., for appellant.
The rule applies only in cases where a notice to quit is a statutory prerequisite to the landlord's right to recover possession from his tenant, i. e., in cases involving tenancies from month to month, at will or by sufferance. 45 D.C.Code §§ 902, 903 and 904 (1940). Shapiro was none of these. With respect to the front portion of the vacant lots, he expressly disclaimed any sort of tenancy, saying he had stored merchandise there by permission but without any lease or agreement as to the payment of rent. As to the front portion of the lots he was, therefore, only a permissive occupant and a mere licensee. City of Owensboro v. Cumberland Telephone Co., 1913, 230 U.S. 58, 33 S. Ct. 988, 57 L. Ed. 1389; Hicks Brothers v. Swift Creek Mill Co., 1902, 133 Ala. 411, 31 So. 947, 57 L.R.A. 720; Eastman v. Piper, 1924, 68 Cal. App. 554, 229 P. 1002; Howes v. Barmon, 1905, 11 Idaho 64, 81 P. 48, 69 L.R.A. 568.
This action of the Municipal Court of Appeals was based, as its opinion shows, upon Sheets v. Selden, 1868, 7 Wall. 416, 74 U.S. 416, 19 L. Ed. 166, and Trans-Lux Radio City Corp. v. Service Parking Corp., D.C.Mun.App.1947, 54 A.2d 144. In the cited Trans-Lux case the Municipal Court of Appeals said, 54 A.2d at page 146: "At least since Sheets v. Selden, 7 Wall. [416, 74], U.S. 416, 19 L. Ed. 166 [1868], it has been the rule in this jurisdiction that a court of law or equity may relieve a tenant from forfeiture of his lease for nonpayment of rent by permitting him before or after judgment, so long as he is in possession, i. e., before `execution is executed,' to pay the rent due, with interest and costs. Upon this being done, a final stay of proceedings is ordered."
The only issue as to the right of possession which was raised and tried was whether the parties had intended the lease of lot No. 3118 to cover also the rear portion of lots Nos. 3120 and 3122. When the jury decided it was not so intended, Shapiro stood in the status of a trespasser as to the back part of the vacant lots. This is, therefore, as we have said, an action in ejectment by an owner of land to recover possession from one who had not been a tenant and who held possession without right, but who did not challenge the owner's title, — a fact which makes it necessary to consider whether the Municipal Court had jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court said in Cincinnati v. White, 1832, 31 U.S. 431, 441-442, 6 Pet. 431, 441-442, 8 L. Ed. 452, "This [ejectment] is a possessory action, and the plaintiff, to entitle himself to recover, must have the right of possession; * * *." And again the Court said, "The purpose for which the action is brought, is not to try the mere abstract right to the soil, but to obtain actual possession; * * *."
In Gregg v. Von Phul, 1863, 1 Wall. 274, 282, 68 U.S. 274, 282, 17 L. Ed. 536, the Court said: "This action is a possessory one, and it settles nothing but the right of possession. The equities between the parties must be determined in another proceeding." See also Dickerson v. Colgrove, 1879, 100 U.S. 578, 25 L. Ed. 618, and cases cited under 28 C.J.S., Ejectment, § 1, p. 848, and Ejectment, § 2, 18 Am.Jur. 7.
It therefore seems well established that ejectment is essentially a possessory action. Certainly it may, and frequently does, become the means of trying title, because the plaintiff must have the possessory title5 — the right of entry upon the land — and, as so frequently said, must recover on the strength of his own title and not on the weakness of the defendant's. The reason that this action to recover possession often involves trial of title is that the defendant usually pleads the general issue of "not guilty" (now the general denial permitted by Rule 8(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A.), which of course puts the plaintiff to proof on his allegation of possessory title. But the defendant is not required to plead the general issue; when he does not do so, and does not otherwise deny the plaintiff's title, then title is not in issue and the plaintiff need not bring proof to support his allegation — it being conceded.
In the present case Shapiro did not raise an issue as to Christopher's title. On the contrary, he claimed the right of possession under a lease from Christopher, which estopped him to deny the latter's title. Chavez v. Bergere, 1913, 231 U.S. 482, 490, 34 S. Ct. 144, 58 L. Ed. 325; Robertson v. Pickrell, 1883, 109 U.S. 608, 614, 3 S. Ct. 407, 27 L. Ed. 1049. There was, therefore, no issue whatever concerning Christopher's title and the only question was whether he was entitled to recover possession. We are clear that the Municipal Court had jurisdiction.
Christopher v. Shapiro, D.C.Mun.App.1950, 76 A.2d 781
Edwards v. Totten, 1919, 48 App.D.C. 416; Byrne v. Morrison, 1905, 25 App.D.C. 72
11 D.C.Code, § 735 (1940), which is in part as follows:
Christopher was not concluded by his allegations concerning a tenancy by sufferance. If there was any doubt in the trial judge's mind as to the sufficiency of the complaint as one in ejectment (assuming, for the moment, that the court had jurisdiction — a question discussed later in this opinion), it was his duty to permit the plaintiff to amend, even after judgment, by withdrawing the allegations concerning a tenancy by sufferance and by clearly stating a cause of action in ejectment in conformity with the facts. It was the court's duty to grant the relief to which the pleadings, evidence and verdict, considered together, showed the plaintiff to be entitled. The Municipal Court's Rule 15(b) is in part as follows: "(b) Amendments to Conform to the Evidence. When issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent of the parties, they shall be treated in all respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings. Such amendment of the pleadings as may be necessary to cause them to conform to the evidence and to raise these issues may be made upon motion of any party at any time,even after judgment; but failure so to amend does not affect the result of the trial of these issues." (Italics supplied.)
Bradshaw v. Ashley, 1901, 180 U.S. 59, 21 S. Ct. 297, 45 L. Ed. 423, in which the Supreme Court cited and quoted from Staffan v. Zeust, 1897, 10 App.D.C. 260; Dickerson v. Colgrove, 1879, 100 U.S. 578, 25 L. Ed. 618
Schwartz v. Murphy, 1940, 72 App.D.C. 103, 112 F.2d 24, 26
Proponents of the theory of non-jurisdiction in the Municipal Court point, in this connection, to § 16-518 of the Code, which is as follows: "Any final judgment rendered in an action of ejectment shall be conclusive as to the title thereby established as between the parties to the action and all persons claiming under them since the commencement of the action."
11 D.C.Code, § 735 and 45 D.C.Code, § 910 (1940)
11 D.C.Code, § 704 (1940)
11 D.C.Code, § 738 (1940)
Service Parking Corp. v. Trans-Lux Radio City Corp., 1946, D.C.Mun.App., 47 A.2d 400, 403. It is interesting to note that § 16-513 is a part of the chapter on Ejectment