Court Opinion

ID: 9551101
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:47:46.007173+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:04.169150
License: Public Domain

Finley, J.
(concurring in the result)—I agree with the per curiam opinion that a technical legal wrong was done to the owner-mortgagor when, without her consent, the *888mortgagee and his contract purchasers moved in and took possession of the premises. Furthermore, in a sense, the status of the latter was that of technical trespassers. However, this status is somewhat ameliorated, it seems to me, because RCW 59.04.050 explicitly prescribes that unauthorized occupiers of realty are “tenants by sufferance.” Punishment is not expressly emphasized in the statute, and its implications are not punitive in nature. RCW 59.04.050 imposes an obligation upon “tenants by sufferance,” as defined therein, “to pay reasonable rent for the actual time” the premises are occupied. I believe the motivating factor or purpose which the statute seeks to effectuate is the making of a reasonable adjustment of the economic relations of the owner and tenants by sufferance. The statute does not set forth any standards or guides to be utilized in computing or ascertaining “reasonable rent.” The per curiam cites no cases, and I have found none, which shed any light respecting an appropriate definition of “reasonable rent.” The case of Don v. Trojan Constr. Co. (1960), 178 Cal. App. (2d) 135, 2 Cal. Rptr. 626, is not helpful in defining “reasonable rent.” Therein, the California court simply answered a peripheral argument that it is no defense for trespassers or tenants by sufferance that the property concerned was not being used by the owner, and that no tenants were available. The property in the California case was vacant land, and hence the problem of “improvements” was nonexistent. The Don case is apropos insofar as it held that it was error to grant only nominal damages when it was possible to ascertain the rental value, and the trial court had made, but ignored, a specific finding respecting rental value. In the instant case the trial court seems to have made an award of nominal damages rather than an award of “reasonable rent.” This is borne out by the trial court’s finding that, after the improvements were made, $60 a month was an appropriate amount respecting rental of the property.
I cannot agree with the per curiam that the owner- mortgagor is entitled to a windfall in terms of the improvements valued, according to the record, at approximately $5,000; *889and is also entitled to have “reasonable rent” computed, based upon the full value of the substantial improvements, with no thought or consideration for the interest of the tenant by sufferance in such improvements. The answer as to what constitutes “reasonable rent,” I believe, lies somewhere between the two extremes: (1) nominal damages, as computed by the trial court, and (2) a computation considering the total value of the improvements in favor of the owner-mortgagor, with no credit whatsoever and no consideration, equitable or otherwise, respecting the tenants by sufferance.
Taking the thesis that RCW 59.04.050 is not punitive in nature, but simply provides a reasonable basis for adjusting rent and the rights of the parties in situations such as that in the instant case, it would seem proper to me to conceptualize the resolution of the problem involved in terms of what the parties might have done through negotiation and voluntary action respecting the occupancy of the premises and rent to be paid therefor. With this approach in mind, I think the parties might well have discussed what the premises would be worth in terms of rent on an “as-is” basis; but, in view of the alleged uninhabitable condition of the premises, they would have rejected this as being impractical, and thus would have talked in terms of the necessary improvements and the costs thereof to make the premises usable for business purposes. Thus they might well have talked about the owner making certain specified improvements at certain costs to her. Furthermore, that with such improvements the premises would be comparable in terms of floor space, location, appearance, and usability with other buildings in the locality, and that the rent should be comparable, and that some figure as to the rent would have been agreed upon. If the owner was short on finances and the potential tenant in better financial condition, I can hear a proposal emerging that the specified improvements at a specified cost be made by the potential tenant; that the lease be executed for a term of five or ten years, and that the cost of at least the improvements of long term value be appor*890tioned or amortized over the lease period in terms of a monthly reduction in the rent.
In the instant case, as mentioned above, the record shows that the over-all value of the improvements was approximately $5,000. An important step in determining the “reasonable rent” would be a -determination as to whether all or only part of the improvements were of long term value and of benefit to the building and its owner, or simply of special or unique value to the tenant in occupancy for his specific purposes. The record shows that two of the improvements involved the roof and the floor of the building at costs, respectively, of somewhere around $1,200 and $2,500. These improvements, generally, would be of long term value in relation to the building and its ownership. For example, a three-ply tar paper and hot tar roof is regarded generally in the trade as a 5-year roof, and should be depreciated or amortized accordingly. Using the figure of $4,000 as the cost of the improvements of long term value, and amortizing the amount over a period of 10 years, would indicate a possible reduction in rent of $400 a year, or $33.33 per month.
I think the case should be remanded to the trial court for a determination, first, as to the rental value of the building with the improvements as of the time these were made, and second, that a reasonable and equitable adjustment in this amount should be made, based upon a reasonable depreciation or amortization of the improvements of long term value. The tenants by sufferance—respondents in this case—would be obligated to pay such an adjusted “reasonable rent” on a monthly basis, covering the period of their occupancy of the premises.
On the basis indicated hereinbefore, I concur in the per curiam opinion that the judgment be reversed, and the case remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.