VDA de Villaruel Vs Manila Motor
VDA de Villaruel Vs Manila Motor
VDA de Villaruel Vs Manila Motor
Ratio:
Clearly, the lessor's insistence upon collecting the occupation rentals for 19421945 was unwarranted in law. Hence, their refusal to accept the current rentals
without qualification placed them in default (mora creditoris or accipiendi) with the
result that thereafter, they had to bear all supervening risks of accidental injury or
destruction of the leased premises. While not expressly declared by the Code of
1889, this result is clearly inferable from the nature and effects of mora. In other
words, the only effect of the failure to consign the rentals in court was that the
obligation to pay them subsisted and the lessee remained liable for the amount of
the unpaid contract rent, corresponding to the period from July to November, 1946;
it being undisputed that, from December 1946 up to March 2, 1948, when the
commercial buildings were burned, the defendants appellants have paid the
contract rentals at the rate of P350 per month. But the failure to consign did not
eradicate the default (mora) of the lessors nor the risk of loss that lay upon them.
The pertinent articles of the Civil Code of Spain of 1889 provide:
ART. 1554.
1.
contract;
2.
To make thereon, during the lease, all repairs necessary in order to
keep it in serviceable condition for the purpose for which it was intended;
3.
To maintain the lessee in the peaceful enjoyment of the lease during
the entire term of the contract.
ART. 1560.
The lessor shall not be liable for any act of mere disturbance of a
third person of the use of the leased property; but the lessee shall have a direct
action against the trespasser.
It the third person, be it the Government or a private individual, has acted in
reliance upon a right, such action shall not be deemed a mere act of disturbance.