Court Opinion

ID: 9586475
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:11:46.819766+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:47.099291
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
Defendant in error now for the first time contends that the lessee owned an estate for years, was to be considered the owner of the premises, that it was required by Code § 85-805 to restore the premises and that in such circumstances it did not occupy the position of a volunteer in restoring the premises after the fire. Although we deem it immaterial whether an estate for years was intended to be conveyed it would seem that there was no such intention by the parties in view of the provision that the lease could be declared forfeited by the lessor in the event of default in the payment of rent, Johnson v. Brice, 151 Ga. 472 (107 SE 338); Mitchell, Real Property in Georgia, p. 153, and the provision that no trustee in bankruptcy could ever have any right to the lease and that in the event the tenant or any subtenant filed or had filed against him any bankruptcy or receivership proceedings the lease would terminate. However, granted that there was conveyed an estate for years, the tenant was not in law the “owner” of the premises with no more than a twenty year lease. Georgia Power Co. v. City of Decatur, 179 Ga. 471, 486 (1) (176 SE 494). Wilson Mfg. Co. v. Chamberlin-Johnson-DuBose Co., 140 Ga. 593 (79 SE 465) does not hold that under a lease for 21 years the lessee is the owner of the premises, but holds that the lessee is the owner of an estate for years. Code § 85-805 provides: “A tenant for years is bound for all repairs or other expense necessary for the preservation and protection of the property.” This section does not obligate the lessee beyond *800ordinary wear and tear and does not require the holder of an estate for years to restore premises injured by fire or extraordinary catastrophes or calamities. If the lessee had failed to restore the buildings the lessor could not have required it to do so and could not have recovered damages for its failure to restore. It is true that the lessee is not a volunteer in the strict use of the term but in the circumstances of this case it is in the category of a volunteer. The lessee failed to have inserted in the lease that rent was to cease in the event the premises were rendered untenable by reason of fire or other calamity. Naturally it had an interest in not paying rent on unremunerative premises, so presumably for that reason it elected to restore the premises to a usable condition. The fact that it did so, when it was under no obligation to do so, solely to protect its own interests, amounted to a windfall or gift to the lessor. Such action by the lessee did not destroy the lessor’s claim under the insurance policy any more than it would have if the lessor had instituted an action on the policy before the lessee restored the buildings, as the rights of the parties were determinable as of the time of the damage by fire. There was not a fact, obligation or circumstance in this case which had the effect of destroying the insurance company’s liability under its contract of insurance. The holding in Universal Credit Co. v. Service Fire Ins. Co., 69 Ga. App. 357, 362 (25 SE2d 526), quoted in the motion for a rehearing, to wit, “In short, to sanction such recovery would be to allow him compensation twice for the one cause of action,” does not fully disclose the meaning of the ruling in the case. We simply refer the reader to the facts of that case for the obvious distinction between the principles there and here involved.

Rehearing denied.