Property Settlement
One evening, after attending the theater, two gentlemen were
walking down the avenue when they observed a rather well dressed
and attractive young lady walking ahead of them. One of them
turned to the other and remarked, "I'd give $250.00 to
spend the night with that woman."
Much to their surprise, the young lady overheard the remark,
turned around, and replied, "I'll take you up on that offer."
She had a neat appearance and a pleasant voice, so after bidding
his companion good night, the man accompanied the young lady
to her apartment.
The following morning the man presented her with $125.00 as
he prepared to leave.
She demanded the rest of the money, stating, "If you don't
give me the other $125.00, I'll sue you for it."
He laughed, saying "I'd like to see you get it on these
grounds."
Within a few days, he was surprised when he received a summons
ordering his presence in court as a defendant in a lawsuit.
He hurried to his lawyer and explained the details of the case.
His lawyer said, "She can't possibly get a judgment against
you on such grounds, but it will be interesting to see how her
case will be presented."
After the usual preliminaries, the lady's lawyer addressed the
court as follows: "Your honor, my client, this lady, is
the owner of a piece of property, a garden spot, surrounded
by a profuse growth of shrubbery, which property she agreed
to rent to the defendant for a specified length of time for
the sum of $250.00. The defendant took possession of the
property, used it extensively for the purposes for which it
was rented, but upon evacuating the premises, he paid only $125.00,
one-half of the amount agreed upon. The rent was not excessive,
since it is restricted property, and we ask judgment be granted
against the defendant to assure payment of the balance."
The defendant's lawyer was impressed and amused by the way his
opponent had presented the case. His defense, therefore was
somewhat different from the way he originally planned to present
it. "Your honor," he said, "my client agrees
that the lady has a fine piece of property, that he did rent
such property for a time, and a degree of pleasure was derived
from the transaction. However, my client found a well on the
property around which he placed his own stones, sunk a shaft,
and erected a pump, all labor performed
personally by him. We claim these improvements to the property
were sufficient to offset the unpaid amount, and that the plaintiff
was adequately compensated for the rental of said property.
We, therefore, ask that judgment not be granted."
The young lady's lawyer answered, "Your honor, my client
agrees that the defendant did find a well on her property. However,
had the defendant not known that the well existed, he would
never have rented the property. Also, upon evacuating the premises,
the defendant removed the stones, pulled out the shaft, and
took the pump with him. In doing so, he not only dragged the
equipment through the shrubbery, but left the hole much larger
than it was prior to his occupancy, making the property much
less desirable to others. We, therefore, ask that judgment be
granted."
In the Judge's decision, he provided for two options: "Pay
the $125.00 or have the equipment detached from it's current
location and provide it to the plaintiff for damages."
The defendant wrote a check immediately.
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