A PENAL RENT

Dominion, Volume 17, Issue 288, 22 August 1923, Page 5

A PENAL RENT

Judgment for the plaintiffs was delivered by the Chief Justice cn Monday in the claim of Dwyer and Dalton against Plimmer and Pliinmer for £495. The question decided was whether plaintiffs were entitled to recover £495, the amount paid by the plaintiffs before defendants would consent to a transfer of a certain lease. The plaintiffs were lessees of the defendants of certain land and premises on which a licensed publichouse was erected. The term was ior seven years at a weekly rental of £75, but in the event of a transferring or subleasing of the premises it was stipulated that the lessees should pay an additional £lOO a year. The Chief Justice hold that the rent which was sought to be charged in this case would come under the definition of a penal rent. It was a penalty, or in the nature of a fine and the mere fact that it was put in the form of a covenant in the lease would not entitle the landlord to enforce it. He therefore found that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover the amount claimed by virtue of section 178 of the Licensing Act, and judgment was entered accordingly. Costs were fixed according to scale.