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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Edwards v. Collins, 198 Mo. App. 569 (1917)

Citation
Edwards v. Collins, 198 Mo. App. 569 (1917)
Parent Document
Edwards v. Collins, 198 Mo. App. 569 (1917)
Jurisdiction
Missouri (state)
Effective Date
1917-12-20

Full Text

1,436 chars
My associates concur in the foregoing opinion but are of the opinion that the last clause of section 7880, Revised Statutes 1909, printed in italics, supra, does not apply to this case as it applies only to leases for a term of two years or less. The first clause of such statute is clearly so limited and such is the natural reading of the second clause. Such reading leads, however, in the writer’s opinion to rather absurd results in that such section and the following one provide a remedy of ouster against the -short-term tenant for the commission of waste or the violation of the terms of the written lease, but leaves the landlord without such remedy against the *576long-term tenant, the very case in which he needs such remedy, as, for instance, in case a tenant is insolvent and a judgment for damages is no remedy at all. The writer was inclined to hold that the pronoun “he” in such second clause should be read to mean any tenant rather than the short-term tenant mentioned in the first clause, but my associates hold that we should adhere to the plain reading of the statute and that such statute is not applicable to the present lease. They think that the statute should have covered all cases but that it does not and such correction is for the Legislature and not for the courts. The case will therefore be reversed and remanded with directions to enter judgment for the defendant. Farrington and Bradley, JJ., concur.