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173 Wis. 277

Toy v. Olinger

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Decided February 8, 1921

Wisconsin Supreme Court · decided 1921-02-08

-Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee county: E. T. Fairchild, Circuit Judge. Action to recover a balance due for- rent on a certain portion of plaintiff’s building in Milwaukee occupied by defendant for a moving-picture theater. The written lease provided for a. term commencing January 1,. 1917,. terminating December 31, .1919, and at an annual rental of $4,000 for two years and then $5,000. Rent was duly paid .until August. 1, 1917. .

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1921-02-08

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently March 1969

7 state decisions

3019211930194019501960decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Eschweiler; J.

¶1So far as the defendant’s claim to defeat the payment of rent during the period of his occupancy of the premises or as a basis fordamages is predicated upon the fact that another tenant of plaintiff furnished to his patrons a certain class of music which at times was quite out of harmony with the music being played in defendant’s theater, no sufficient showing of responsibility on the part of the plaintiff for such situation has been presented so as to make plaintiff in any wise liable.

¶2The odor with which nature has so bountifully endowed the onion had been escaping from the basement into the theater premises prior to defendant’s taking possession thereof, as could then have been discovered by him. He first discovered it in about two weeks after taking possession on January 1st. In spite of that condition, so early brought to his attention, he continued to pay rent on said premises according to the lease and at the specified rate until August 1st. During this period he leased to others the same premises at a greater rental rate than that which he was paying, and after such subtenants gave up their lease, finding it an . unprofitable venture, he used the theater himself. After he had stopped paying the rent in August he again opened the theater in October for a week and then remained in possession thereof until the notice to vacate was served on him. *280On November 5th he was notified that his failure to pay rent was being considered' a violation of the lease. He nevertheless elected to remain-there, and did pay, after such notice, two instalments on the rent in December and January of $100 each.

¶3■ ■ Under the facts and circumstances the trial court was correct in holding that there was no constructive eviction, either partial or whole, by the landlord of the.defendant as tenant. His remaining in possession; his unqualified payment of rent up to the 1st of August, 1917, must be considered to have been a- waiver of any rights he then might have had to treat this condition, if chargeable to plaintiff, as a breach of the covenant of the lease.

¶4■ Neither is there satisfactory proof that the. substantial failure of defendant’s business venture was the result of these odors escaping into his theater premises. -

¶5It' follows that the trial court was right -in- dismissing defendant’s counterclaim and directing judgment-for the amount of the unpaid rent.

¶6By the Court. — Judgment affirmed.

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