"TE SECTION 1. ENANT at will (says Littleton, § 68.) is where Descriplands or tenements are let by one man to tion of. another, to have and to hold to him at the will of the lessor, by force of which lease the lessee is in possession; in this case the lessee is called tenant at will, because he hath no certain or sure estate; for the lessor may put him out at what time it pleaseth him." § 82. May arise by Implication. Lit. § 70. Denn v. Fearnside, 1 Wils. R. 176. Lit. § 132. 460. 1 Inst. 270 b. It is at the Will of both Parties. Not grantable over. 1 Inst. 57 a. 2. Littleton says, if a man lets land to another, to have and to hold to him and to his heirs, at the will of the lessor; the words, to the heirs of the lessee, are void; for if the lessee dies, and the heir enters, the lessor shall have an action of trespass against him. 3. An estate at will may arise by implication, as well as by express words. Thus, if a tenant for years holds over his term, and continues to pay his rent as before, such payment, and acceptance of rent, creates an estate at will. 4. Where a person makes a feoffiment, and delivers the deed to the feoffee, without giving him livery of seisin, and the feoffee entérs, he becomes tenant at will. 5. Where a person entered, and enjoyed lands, under a lease that was void; and paid rent; it was held that he was tenant at will. 6. As a tenant at will acquires the possession by the consent of the owner, there is a privity of estate between them; but no fealty is due. 7. Lord Coke says, every lease at will must in law be at the will of both parties: therefore where a lease is made, to have and to hold at the will of the lessor, the law implies it to be at the will of the lessee also. So it is when the lease is made to have and to hold at the will of the lessee; this must be also at the will of the lessor. 8. A tenant at will has no certain and indefeasible estate; nothing that can be assigned by him to another: because the lessor may determine his will, and put him out whenever he pleases. Therefore if a tenant at will grants over his estate to another, who enters on the land, he is a disseisor; and the landlord an action of trespass against him. may have 9. A lessee at will made a lease for years, and Blunden the lessor entered. Resolved, on solemn argument, Cro. Car. v. Baugh, 1. That this was only a disseisin at election, and not 302. prima facie. 2. That, admitting it to be a disseisin, the lessee at will, not the lessee for years, was the disseisor, and had gained the freehold. 10. Where an estate at will is determined by the This Tenant lessor, the tenant is entitled to the corn sown, and other emblements. Otherwise where the estate is determined by the lessee. sometimes 11. If a person makes a lease at will, and is after- Idem. wards outlawed, by which the will is determined, the king shall have the profits; yet the lessee at will shall have the corn that was sown. But if a lessee at will be outlawed, the king shall have the emblements. 12. Tenants at will have no power of committing any kind of voluntary waste: still they are not within the statute of Gloucester, and therefore no action of waste lies against them. But if a tenant at will cuts down timber trees, or pulls down houses, the lessor has an action of trespass against him. Cannot com mit Waste. 1 Inst. 57 a. 13. As to permissive waste, there is no remedy Lit. § 71. against a tenant at will, for he is not bound to repair Countess of years. Shrewsbury's Case, 5 Rep. 13 b. What deter or sustain houses, like tenant for 14. With respect to the acts which amount to a determination of an estate at will on either side, the mines this first and most obvious mode of determining it by the Estate. lessor, is an express declaration that the lessee shall 1 Inst. 55 b. hold no longer; which must either be made on the land, or else notice of it given to the lessee. 15. Any act of ownership exercised by the landlord Idem. which is inconsistent with the nature of this estate, will also operate as a determination of it. Thus, if he enters on the land, and cuts down trees demised, or makes a feoffment, or a lease for years, to com mence immediately, the estate at will is thereby determined. 16. On the other side, any act of desertion, or which is inconsistent with an estate at will, done by the tenant, will also operate as a determination of the estate. Thus, if the tenant assigns over the land to another, or commits an act of waste, his estate is thereby determined. But a verbal declaration by the lessee, that he will not hold the lands any longer, does not determine the estate, unless he also waives the possession. 17. Neither party can determine an estate at will at a time which would be prejudicial to the other. Therefore, if the lessee determines his will before the day on which the rent is due, he must notwithstanding it up to that time. pay 18. If the lessor determines his will before the rent is due, he loses it. But if either party die before the rent is due, this act of God shall not be productive of any injury; for the lease, if it be of a house, shall continue till the next rent day. And if it be of lands, commencing at Michaelmas, it shall continue till the summer profits are received by the representatives of the tenant. 19. It has been settled, by several modern cases, that six months notice to quit must be given by a landlord to his tenant at will, or to his executors; before the end of which time, an ejectment will not lie. 20. The courts of law have of late years leaned as much as possible against construing demises, where no certain term is mentioned, to be estates at will; but have rather held them to be tenancies from year to year, as long as both parties please; especially where an annual rent is reserved. 1609. 21. In a modern case, Mr. Justice Wilmot said, that 3 Burr. " in the country, leases at will, in the strict legal notion of an estate at will, being found extremely inconvenient, exist only notionally; and were succeeded by another species of contract, which was less inconvenient." Mr. Hargrave has remarked on this passage, that 1 Inst. 55 a. it means, not that estates at will may not arise now, n. 3. as well as formerly; but only that it is no longer usual to create such estates by express words; and that the Judges incline strongly against implying them. 22. A tenant from year to year, having acquired Lit. § 460. the possession by the consent of the owner, as well as a tenant at will, there is a privity of estate between them. 23. A general parol demise, at an annual rent, where the bulk of the farm is inclosed, and a small part in open common fields, is a tenancy from year to year. 2 Blackst. 24. An ejectment was brought to recover the Roe v. Rees, possession of a farm of about 60 acres of land, of 1171. which 51 were inclosed, and the rest lay in open fields. The taking was from old Lady-day 1767, without any fixed term, at 40l. a year rent, payable at Michaelmas and Lady-day. It was proved that a custom prevailed, where a tenant took a farm in that township, of which part consisted of open common field, for an uncertain term, that it should be considered as a holding from three years to three years. Lord Chief Justice De Grey said, that all leases for uncertain terms were, prima facie, leases at will: that the reservation of an annual rent turned them into leases from year to year. It was possible that circumstances might make it a lease for a longer |