Story Case

Mr. Story, an insurance agent, applied for a room in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Stone in Los Angeles. It was agreed that Mr. Story should occupy a certain room, the care and custody of which was to fall to Mrs. Stone. Mr. Story signed a regular lease for two years, which provided that the rent was to be $240, payable quarterly. The insurance business became very slack with Mr. Story, and he decided to seek cheaper quarters. Mr. Stone insisted that he was bound by the lease and could not leave, without paying the remainder of the rent. After Mr. Story had moved, Mr. Stone made every effort to find an occupant for the vacated quarters, but was unable to do so. When the two-year period of the lease expired, he sued Mr. Story on the lease. Mr. Story insisted that such a writ would not lie against him, for he was not a tenant. Will Mr. Stone recover against Mr. Story on the lease?

Ruling Court Case. White Vs. Maynard, Volume 111, Massachusetts Reports, Page 28

Mrs. White, who kept a boarding house, orally-agreed with Maynard to furnish room and board for his family at $75 per month, from May until November of the following year. In January, Maynard left Mrs. White's house, and she sues for damages for breach of contract. Maynard contends that their agreement constituted a tenancy between them, and was unenforcible under the Statute of Frauds having reference to real estate contracts, because not in writing.

Decision: The court was of the opinion that the agreement in this case, did not create a relation of tenant and landlord between the parties. Nor is it an agreement for an interest in or concerning lands within the Statute of Frauds.

Mr. Justice Gray said: "Mr. Justice Bronson, in delivering the judgment (in a New York case), said, 'This was nothing more than an agreement for board and lodging, with a designation of the particular room which the defendant was to occupy. It was not a contract for hiring and letting of real estate. When one contracts with the keeper of a hotel or boarding house for rooms and board, whether for a week or a year, the technical relation of landlord and tenant is not created between the parties. The lodger acquires no interest in the real estate. If he is turned out of the rooms before the time expires, he cannot maintain ejectment.' " Judgment was given for Mrs. White.

Ruling Law. Story Case Answer

When a person engages a room at a hotel, or a room at a boarding house, he does not, by that engagement, become a tenant of the hotel keeper or of the boarding house keeper. He is merely a licensee, having the right to occupy the room for a more or less definite period. He acquired no interest in the realty; and has none of the rights of a tenant. It is of course conceivable that a person might engage rooms so situated and under such terms, that he thereby became a tenant. But, in the ordinary case, in which a person simply engages rooms at a hotel or a lodging house, there is no tenancy created.

In the Story Case, there was no true tenancy created, even though a so-called lease was signed by the lodger, Mr. Story. If Mr. Stone had sued Mr. Story on the contract to occupy the room for two years, he would recover damages, but a suit against him as a tenant will not succeed, because he was a mere lodger and roomer, and not a tenant.