A LANDLORD’S MISTAKE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3321, 28 October 1919, Page 5

A LANDLORD ’ S MISTAKE.

BLOCKED THE WINDOW TO GET POSSESSION. CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 2-1. TllO question of a ]andlol‘d’so right to lock out ‘light iand air from his tenant’s windows was the subject of an action in the Magistrate’s Court t’o~ day, when a...felnale old age pensioner maldc a Glaim for £5 "damages for trespass from a man from whom she rented two rooms, P}a'intifi said she had occupied the I'o’oms for a year and ten months, and paid 8/ a week for them. He had demanded an increavetl rental‘ of 10/ An. weeli; which she dcclined to pay. Defendaot said he was quite within his rights in dexnanfling‘ 10/. She made no effort to leave {he premises, and he blocked up her windows with packing cases. She-‘pu‘s‘hed the top sash down twice, and he“tllen-Ifastoned it so that she (=,'ould -not move it. The mn,<,§isfl'a{'e said defendant? Had

no right to demand increased rent ‘unless he had spent money on improvements. - . A witness said two large packing cases had been placed against the window of plaint..'ii”s sitting room, enabling only one foot ‘of light to penetrate it, -and only a portion of the ‘ceiling was obtaining this: light. . The room had in consequence become .stufi‘y and unbearable.'..The caseshwere fastened firmly- with wire running through staples," making the structure a. fixture. The magistrate said if a man let two rooms to a tenant, he let them with all the eonvenances -of light and air. Counsel submitted that the defendant could block up the windows if he so- de—sired, that _no right to light and air could be acquired by the user, and plaintifl"’s only remedy was to leave. A man could do what he liked in his ‘own house. The magistrate: In this case it was not his own house. If a man enters into a contract to let two rooms to a tenant he must abide by his contract. Counsel: It was his own house outside. Defendanti had no right to -go into the rooms, but was quite entitled to do what he liked outside. lam prepared to stand or fall on tffat contenfion. The magistrate said he considered the Court competent to give judgment. Defendant"s counsel could apply for a prohibition later on if he Wished Judgment would be for plaintiff‘ for the amont claimed.