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Landlord and Tenant: Health

A tenant is not relieved from paying rent because the plumbing and waterclosets are out of repairs; and a week's delay on the part of the plumber in making the repairs, ordered by the Health Department, in the absence of the landlord's knowledge, does not constitute eviction.

In case, owing to defective plumbing, sewer gas escapes into the apartments endangering health, and the landlord fails to comply within a reasonable time with the order of the Health authorities, the tenant is justified in leaving the premises and is free from paying rent.

In case a lease contains no covenant on the part of the lessee to comply with the orders of the Fire and Building Departments, and the landlord enters to make alterations, thereby compelling the lessee to cease business, and causing sub-tenants to refuse to pay rent, there is an eviction, and no rent need be thereafter paid. Trespass by a third party on leased premises does not constitute the eviction of the tenant by the lessor. i

A tenant evicted by a landlord during the continuance of a lease from even a portion of the premises is relieved during the continuance of eviction from paying any portion of the rent. The tenant, however, is not obliged to leave the premises, but may refuse the payment of rent until the possession of the whole is restored.

Where an action is brought against a landlord for eviction, a tenant cannot, recover as damages profits which he would otherwise have made if not disturbed.

If the premises are in good repair when leased, but subsequently became ruinous and dangerous, the landlord is not responsible therefor, either to the occupant or to the public, unless he had expressly agreed to repair, or has renewed the lease after the necessity for repairs had appeared. This rule has been applied in an action for injuries caused by falling through a defective sidewalk into a cellar.

A person who visits a tenant goes on the latter's implied invitation, not on that of the landlord, and has no more right to claim damages of the landlord for injuries caused by the condition of the premises than the tenant has. A stranger injured by a defective stairway or flooring has no claim against the landlord where the latter is not bound to repair.

The owner of an entire building is under duty to the tenant of a part, only to keep the building in ordinary repair, and is liable to such tenant for an injury caused by want of skill or care on the part of the mechanic employed in making the alteration or repairs. A landlord is bound to exercise a reasonable degree of supervision on the premises that are common to several tenants.

AGENCY.

An agent is a person authorized by another to transact business for the latter, who is termed his principal. The general rule is that whatever a man can perform in his own right, he can also do through another. But an agent cannot in general delegate his authority. The power to delegate authority to a sub-agent, however, is implied in certain cases, where for instance the nature of the business renders such an act necessary. But in these instances the agent must exercise care not to exceed his power, and not to go beyond what the circumstances of the case demand. For instance a person having authority to sign another person's name to a subscription paper may employ a third person to do it in his presence, or an agent who is empowered to sell certain lands, being at the same time allowed to use his own judg. ment as to price and terms, may employ a sub-agent for the purpose. The principal has no ground of complaint for the employment of a sub-agent, except when he is charged with the acts of said sub-agent. But wherever authority to employ a sub-agent exists, expressly or impliedly, the principal, and not the agent, will be held responsible for the sub-agent's acts.

An agent may be appointed by implication that is where the appointment is implied by the conduct of the principal regarding the agent-or verbally, or in writing, An agent may be authorized to make a contract verbally, even in cases requiring such a contract to be made in writing.

There are three classes of agents, -special, general and professional. The first consists in the exercise of authority for a special object. In this case the principal is not bound by the acts of the agent, should the latter exceed his authority. A general agent is one who is authorized to transact all business of a particular kind or growing out of a particular employment, as a factor to buy and sell goods, a broker to negotiate a certain kind of contracts, an attorney to transact legal business, and a master to perform all matters connected with the usual employment of a ship. Should a general agent act contrary to private instructions, the principal will still be bound by his acts, provided the agent does not exceed the general limits of his authority. The reverse of this rule holds good concerning a particular agent, that is an agent employed to carry out a single transaction.

Professional agents are those who are licensed to transact particular kinds of business for a compensation. Matters of a personal nature, which imply special confidence on the part of the person possessing them, cannot be delegated.

All persons, except lunatics, imbeciles or persons of very tender years, may become agents. Certain persons also may become agents for others, who could not act in their private capacity. Thus an infant may, in certain cases, become an agent, and a femme couverte may become an agent even for her husband. Infants, married women, lunatics, idiots, aliens and persons who are incapable of making legal contracts, are debarred from acting as principals in the appointment of agents, though infants and married women may become principals in certain cases.

The duties of the agent to his principal are determined by the instructions which the former receives from the latter, whether expressly or impliedly. Should the agent be limited by certain instructions, he should not go beyond them, and should his authority be unlimited, he should exercise his discretion with that care usually pursued in the course of the business in which he is employed. Should any unforseen obstruction occur, he is bound to give notice of it to his principal. Should the agent be devoid of the necessary skill, after having represented himself as competent, he will be held liable for the results of his incapacity. He is also responsible for those whom he may employ, in the transaction of the business in which he is engaged.

A renumerated agent, having been engaged, may be compelled to proceed with the transaction, while an unnumerated agent may not, as he is not bound by any consideration. But should the latter begin his work and be guilty of neglect or misconduct in the performance of it, he will be liable for any damage he may cause. Less skill is required of an unpaid than of a paid agent, and the former can be held liable only for gross negligence.

An agent is not only entitled to his commission, but also to all legitimate advances made by him in the regular course of his employment. He is supposed to have the implied permission of his principal to make these advances. If advances or payments be made, however, out of the regular course of business he will not be entitled to reimbursement, unless he can prove by circumstances the implied permission or assent of his principal. Expenses incurred by negligence. may not be repaid by the principal.

An agent has the right to bind his principal to third persons, but not beyond the limits of his authority. This authority may be given expressly, or it may be imlied from the acts of his principal. An agent, in executing a deed, may sign the name of his principal, or state it as done by himself as agent for said principal. But the principal will not be bound, if the agent signs his own name and fails to mention that of the principal. An agent who draws, indorses or accepts negotiable instruments will be liable to the holder, should he do it in his own name.

A principal is responsible for the negligence of his agent, while acting in his employment, though the agent may not be under his immediate direction. As if, for instance, a servant shoeing a horse, lames the animal; but, if it is an act of wilful and malicious trespass on the part of the agent, the principal is not bound.

Agency may be terminated in two ways-by the act of the agent, or the principal; or by operation of law. Under the operation of law the agency is terminated by lapse of time, by the completion of the transaction in which the agent was engaged, or by the insanity, the bankruptcy, or the death, of either the agent or the principal. But should the principal recover, before the agent terminated the agency, the principal will be bound by his future acts, and also by his acts performed during the period of his insanity. The best authorities in the United States hold that the agent's authority is terminated by the death of the principal, whether the parties dealing with the agent were, or were not, informed of the principal's death.

An agent is personally liable in a case where he has expressly undertaken to be so, though it is sometimes very difficult to determine, according to the construction of such an agreement, whether the agent meant to bind himself or his principal.

An agent who so far exceeds his authority as to relieve his principal of responsibility for his action, is held liable for the damage caused to the other contracting party.

However, in regard to liability for torts, an agent is not liable for neglecting to do, as his principal agent, what that principal bound and deputed him to do. For instance, if the servant of a carrier refuses to carry goods, though offered the regular hire, he is not liable for damages to the man refused; but his master is, and he in turn is liable to his principal for a breach of contract as his agent.