(Download) "Carow Et Al. v. Bishop. Same v. Hunter" by District of Columbia Court of Appeals. # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Carow Et Al. v. Bishop. Same v. Hunter
- Author : District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
- Release Date : January 12, 1946
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 59 KB
Description
HOOD, Associate Judge. Appellants, as landlords, brought suits for possession of portions of a building occupied separately by the three appellees. The cases were consolidated for trial and at the close of plaintiffs' evidence all defendants moved for findings in their favor and dismissal of the complaints. The motion was granted and appeals, consolidated here, were taken. The property in question is a three-story building in a commercial zone. The first floor is occupied by a store and office. Appellee Hunter occupies the front of the second floor, using it for dwelling purposes and the conduct of a millinery business. Appellee Bishop occupies the rear of the second floor and uses it for dwelling purposes and the conduct of a dressmaking business. Appellee Bond occupies the third floor apartment as a dwelling. Appellants contend that the two tenants of the second floor cannot invoke the protection of the District of Columbia Emergency Rent Act because that Act is limited in its scope to property rented for living or dwelling purposes, whereas these two tenants conduct commercial enterprises on the premises occupied by them. These tenants have been in occupancy since 1934 and 1935 and have continuously used the premises for dwelling purposes with the knowledge of the landlord. When the Rent Act became effective on January 1, 1942, we think it is clear that the two tenants of the second floor were occupying their respective quarters for dwelling purposes and came within the purview of the Rent Act, although one was conducting a millinery business in her home and the other a dressmaking establishment in hers. We do not mean to say that property rented expressly and only for commercial purposes may be converted by a tenant, against the will of the landlord, into housing accommodations within the meaning of the Rent Act. This is not such a case. The lease to the tenant Hunter prohibited her from carrying on 'any business except that of a millinery,' but it did not in terms prohibit her from using the premises as a dwelling and she had so used it with the landlords' acquiescence for a number of years prior to the Rent Act. With respect to the tenant Bishop, her lease expressly limited the use of the premises as a dwelling only, and we think its use as a dwelling and for dressmaking without objection from the landlords over this long period neither took the premises out of the scope of the Rent Act nor constituted a violation of her tenancy. The tenancy of Bond is admitted to be within the Rent Act. Therefore, all three appellees were entitled to invoke the protection of the Act.
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