Evans, Tenant; Peyton, Landlord

JurisdictionIreland
CourtCourt of Appeal (Ireland)
Judgment Date26 July 1894
Date26 July 1894
Evans,
Tenant
and
Peyton,
Landlord. (2).

Appeal.

DETERMINED BY

THE QUEEN'S BENCH AND EXCHEQUER DIVISIONS

OF

THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN IRELAND,

AND BY

THE IRISH LAND COMMISSION,

AND ON APPEAL THEREFROM IN

THE COURT OF APPEAL,

AND BY

THE COURT FOR CROWN CASES RESERVED.

1895.

Agreement fixing a fair rent — Tenant for life — Inadequate rent fixed to the prejudice of remainderman and incumbrancer — Fraud — Purchaser of tenant's interest for value and without notice — Application to take agreement off the file — Jurisdiction.

T. L. P., who was tenant for life of certain lands in the county of Leitrim under a will, by which his life estate was determinable upon bankruptcy, or upon a receiver being appointed, entered into an agreement on the 1st March, 1888, with a tenant E. to fix a fair rent of his holding, which comprised 44a. 1r. 25p., at £6 a-year. The rent had previously been £23, and the agreement was filed in the Land Commission on the 11th June, 1888. In September, 1889, T. L. P.'s estate became forfeited, and the next tenant for life, J. L. P., became tenant for life in possession. On the 28th August, 1889, E.'s holding was sold by public auction, subject to the judicial rent of £6, and R. became the purchaser. On the 25th July, 1893, an application was made by J. L. P. and E. S. P., an annuitant, for liberty to intervene, and that the fair rent agreement might be taken off the file, and declared null and void. On the 7th November, 1893, an order was made by Mr. Commissioner FitzGerald, that the agreement should be removed from the file of the Court. E., the purchaser, was not represented on that application, owing to a miscarriage, and he subsequently applied to the Land Commission to vacate the order of the 7th November, 1893. On the 13th March, 1894, this application was refused, and R. appealed:—

Held, that, whatever might have been done in the case of the original parties, as between R. on the one hand, and J. L. P. and the annuitant on the other, the orders of Mr. Commissioner FitzGerald and of the Land Commission could not be sustained.

On the 1st March, 1888, Thomas Lawless Peyton, and the tenant Abraham Evans, entered into an agreement to fix a fair rent of the farm held by Evans as tenant from year to year, which comprised 44a. 1r. 25p. statute measure, at the rent of £23 1s. By this agreement the rent was fixed at £6, and the agreement and declaration were duly filed in the Land Commission on the 11th June, 1888. The lands formed portion of a property in the county of Leitrim, devised by the will of Charles R. Peyton, dated the 8th November, 1869, to several successive tenants for life, and the will contained a clause under which each life estate was liable to be determined in the event of the tenant for life becoming bankrupt or insolvent, or in the event of a receiver being appointed over his property (1).

The tenancy of Abraham Evans, having been created prior to the date of the will of Charles E. Peyton, bound the inheritance. In September, 1889, Thomas Lawless Peyton forfeited his life-estate, and Joseph Lewis Peyton, the next in succession, became tenant for life in possession. During the time that he was in possession Thomas Lawless Peyton had entered into a number of similar agreements to fix fair rents, whereby it was alleged that the rental was reduced from £1309 8s. 5d. to £346 15s.

On the 28th August, 1889, Evans' holding was sold by public auction, subject to the judicial rent of £6, and was purchased by Francis Roden for £270. On the 25th July, 1893, an application was made by Joseph L. Peyton and Elizabeth Peyton, an incumbrancer, to the Land Commission for leave to intervene in the case, and that the agreement to fix a fair rent might be taken off the file and declared null and void, as having been fraudulently obtained, and this application was supported by evidence to show that the rent of £6 per annum was a gross undervalue. On the 7th November, 1893, an order was made by Mr. Commissioner FitzGerald that the agreement and declaration should be removed from the files of the Court. Roden, the purchaser, was not represented on the hearing of the motion owing to the illness of his solicitor, and on the 20th February, 1894, he applied to the Land Commission to have the order of the 7th November, 1893,

vacated. Roden stated that he purchased the farm bona fide, and without any knowledge that the agreement under which it was held could be impeached. On the 13th March, 1894, an order was made by three Commissioners refusing this application. From that order Roden appealed.

Healy, in support of the appeal.

Matheson, Q.C., and J. H. Shaw...

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