This duty of the tenant to refrain from denying his landlord's title is the modern survival of the feudal obligation of fealty. pledged by the vassal to his lord. Its most serious breach at common law consisted. not in the tenant's setting up the invalidity of the landlord's title in all action for the rent, nor yet in his assertion of an independ ent title, by adverse possession. but in the tor tious. or wrongful. eonveyanee of the premises to a third person in fee. This was effected by one of the ancient modes of conveyance, as feoff mein, fine, or common recovery, which had the curious effect of vesting in the grantee the actual estate which it purported to convey. even though this was greater than the estate of the grantor. This grave breach ot the tenant's good faith was attended by the complete forfeiture of his own estate to the landlord whom he had thus be trayed. The abolition of tortious conveyances by statute has done away with this violation of the tenant's duty. Sec FEOFFMENT; FORFEITURE; LIFE ESTATE.
Among the other important incidents of the relation of landlord and tenant are the obligation of the tenant to refrain from committing waste on the premises; his right to cut wood for fire, for fencing and repairs, and other similar privi leges, known as *estovers'; the right of a tenant for life or at will to the emblements or growing crops; and the right of tt tenant under certain circumstances to remove fixture; which he has annexed to the freehold. The obligation of a tenant for life or years to keep the premises in repair is a direct consequence of his liability for what is known as permissive waste, which consists in permitting the premises to deterio rate with use. At common law this is carried so far as to compel the tenant to rebuild a house destroyed by accidental fire, but this extreme con sequence of the doetrine of waste has generally been abrogated by statute in the United States. All of these rights and obligations flow naturally from the relation between the parties and do not depend upon agreement. See EMnLEMENT; ESTOVER; FIXTURE: WASTE.
Other obligations of the parties are the result of agreements which, in the language of the books. "touch and concern the land." These are very numerous, the more usual ones being the obliga tion of the tenant to pay a stipulated rent, to refrain from assigning the lease without the land lord's permission, to make certain improvements, and the like; and, on the landlord's part, to re new the lease for a further term, to pay for im provements at the expiration of the lease. to permit the removal of fixtures not otherwise re movable, etc. Rent is never due in the absence of an agreement, express or implied, but by stat ute all understanding to pay a reasonable rent for the use and occupation of leased premises may be implied in cases where the lease is silent on the subject. Where agreements of the kind above
enumerated are embodied in a covenant, i.e. an instrument under seal, they become a part of the relation of landlord and tenant. and become binding. not only upon the original parties. as is the ease with ordinary contracts. hut extend to all those who may, during the continuance of the lease, succeed to the position of the original parties, respectively. Such covenants are said to 'run with the land.' it is on this principle that a tenant's obligation to pay a certain rent is passed on to any one to whom he may assign the lease. and the landlord's right to enforce the obligation passes. upon a sale of the land, to the assignee of the reversion.
-lost of the obligations of landlord and tenant, whether inherent in the relation or contractual, are enforceable only by an action for damages. This is especially true of the obligations arising out of the agreements of the parties. In the absence of an express provision to that effect, there is. in general. no right on the part of the landlord to terminate the lease and eject the tenant for failure to pay rent or for any other breach of duty. This result can be attained only by incorporating in the lease a condition for feiting the estate for a failure to perform the covenants thereof. This, however. is frequently done.
Under most circumstances flue relations of land lord and tenant come to an end without notice. This is always true of estates for life and for years, and generally of tenancies at will and at sufferance. Estates from year to year, or from month to month, on the other hand, are a pecu liar form of tenancy at will, terminable only at the end of a current period, and then only upon due notice. But the estate of a tenant may come to an end in other ways than by efiluxion of time. Apart from eases of forfeiture for waste, for felony. for breach of condition, and the like, leasehold estates are regularly terminated by the 'release' of the reversion to the tenant, or by the 'surrender' of the tenant's estate to his land lord. These are modes of conveyance operating only where there is 'privity of estate' between the parties thereto, and peculiarly appropriate, therefore, to the case of landlord and tenant. The result in either ease is to produce what is known as a merger. the lesser estate disappearing in the greater, and thus coming to an end. See FORFEITURE; RELEASE: SURRENDER. Also time articles LEASE; LEASEHOLD; TENURE. Consult the authorities appended to the article on REAL PROPERTY, and, in addition, Taylor, The Ameri can Lair of Landlord and Tenant (8th ed., Hos tel], 1887) ; McAdam, !eights, Remedies, and Liabilities of Landlord and Tenant (3d'ed., New York. 1901) : Fawcett, Landlord and Tenant (2f.1 ed., London, 1900).