{
  "id": 8556160,
  "name": "HENRY H. STOUT and STOCO, INC. v. WILLIAM CRUTCHFIELD and VEORA CRUTCHFIELD",
  "name_abbreviation": "Stout v. Crutchfield",
  "decision_date": "1974-05-01",
  "docket_number": "No. 7418DC337",
  "first_page": "387",
  "last_page": "390",
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      "type": "official",
      "cite": "21 N.C. App. 387"
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    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
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    "name_long": "North Carolina",
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      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
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      "cite": "212 N.C. 523",
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      "cite": "215 N.C. 417",
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    {
      "cite": "225 N.C. 211",
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  "analysis": {
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:32:29.924632+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Chief Judge Brook and Judge Parker concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "HENRY H. STOUT and STOCO, INC. v. WILLIAM CRUTCHFIELD and VEORA CRUTCHFIELD"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "BALEY, Judge.\nDefendants contend that the trial court erred in holding that they were tenants at will. They take the position that they have the right to possession of the house and lot in question by virtue of a document signed by Henry H. Stout on 9 January 1966.\nWilliam Crutchfield testified without contradiction that after Stoco purchased the property, Stout offered to sell it to defendants. Defendants were unable to purchase it, but they agreed to rent it at $68.00 per month. Stout then offered the property for sale to the public, and defendants were annoyed by prospective purchasers who came at all hours of the day and night asking to be shown around the house. They complained to Stout, and he gave them the following handwritten document:\n\u201cI agree to rent to William Crutchfield a house in Oak ridge Township on Dunbar Rd. for 68.00 per month until such time that he decides to buy same house. I will not offer for sale this house until I have first offered the house to him at appraisal value.\nHenry H. Stout\nReceived 68.00 rent for Jan. on house.\nJan. 19, 1966.\nHenry H. Stout\u201d\nDefendants argue that this agreement gives Crutchfield an option to purchase the house, and the right to occupy it, as a tenant for years, until he decides to exercise the option. In our view this is not a proper interpretation of the agreement. Every lease must contain some definite provision enabling the parties and the courts to determine when the lease will end. Barbee v. Lamb, 225 N.C. 211, 34 S.E. 2d 65; Sappenfield v. Goodman, 215 N.C. 417, 2 S.E. 2d 13; Rental Co. v. Justice, 212 N.C. 523, 193 S.E. 817. In this case, the rental agreement would end if Crutchfield bought the house, but there is no indication when it would end if he did not. Under the contention of defendants, if Crutchfield never bought the house, he could claim the right to rent it for his entire life. Construing the agreement as a whole, it is obvious that Stout did not intend to grant Crutchfield a life estate in the property or the right to occupy it for any definite term. He reserved the right to sell and was attempting to do so when he executed the agreement. When a lease is of indefinite or uncertain duration, it will be treated as a tenancy at will, which can be terminated at any time by either party. Barbee v. Lamb, supra; Sappenfield v. Goodman, supra; Rental Co. v. Justice, supra; Webster, Real Estate Law in North Carolina, \u00a7 96. Thus the district court correctly held that defendants were tenants at will, and their tenancy was terminated by Stout in December, 1972.\nDefendants point out that plaintiffs have not complied with G.S. 42-3, which requires that a tenant be given ten days\u2019 notice before his lease can be forfeited for nonpayment of rent. However, in this case plantiffs\u2019 right to evict defendants does not depend on whether defendants have failed to pay their rent. When Stout told defendants to vacate the premises, their tenancy at will instantly expired, regardless of whether they had defaulted on the rent. Since defendants\u2019 tenancy had expired, plaintiffs had the right to bring an immediate action for summary ejectment under G.S. 42-26 (1).\nThe judgment of the trial court is\nAffirmed.\nChief Judge Brook and Judge Parker concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "BALEY, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Dees, Johnson, Tart, Giles & Tedder, by J. Sam Johnson, Jr., for plaintiff wppellees.",
      "Smith, Carrington, Patterson, Foll\u00edn & Curtis, by Norman B. Smith, for defendant appellants."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "HENRY H. STOUT and STOCO, INC. v. WILLIAM CRUTCHFIELD and VEORA CRUTCHFIELD\nNo. 7418DC337\n(Filed 1 May 1974)\n1. Landlord and Tenant \u00a7 2\u2014 term of lease uncertain \u2014 tenancy at will\nWhen a lease is of indefinite or uncertain duration, it will be treated as a tenancy at will, which can be terminated at any time by either party.\n2. Landlord and Tenant \u00a7 15\u2014 term of lease not stated \u2014 tenancy at will\nDefendants were tenants at will where they rented a house from individual plaintiff under an agreement whereby plaintiff agreed to rent to male defendant \u201cuntil such time that he decides to buy same house,\u201d since the term of the lease was not stated.\n3. Landlord and Tenant \u00a7\u00a7 15, 18\u2014 tenancy at will \u2014 termination \u2014 notice not required\nPlaintiffs were not required to comply with G.S. 42-3 which requires that a tenant be given ten days\u2019 notice before his lease can be forfeited for nonpayment of rent, since plaintiffs\u2019 right to evict defendants, who were tenants at will, did not depend on whether defendants failed to pay their rent.\nAppeal by defendants from Haworth, Judge, 7 October 1973 Session of District Court held in Guilford County.\nPlaintiffs brought this summery ejectment action before a magistrate to recover possession of a house and lot in Oak Ridge township of Guilford County which had been rented to defendants. Defendants denied plaintiffs\u2019 ownership of the property in question, and the case was transferred to the district court, where it was tried without a jury. The court made findings of fact and conclusions of law and entered judgment in favor of plaintiffs.\nIn its findings of fact, the court determined that prior to 1963 defendant William Crutchfield had been the owner of the house and lot. On 1 July 1963 he conveyed the property by a deed of trust to Douglas P. Dettor as trustee for Stokesdale Commercial Bank, as security for a loan. Crutchfield defaulted in his payments on the loan, and a foreclosure sale was held. The bank purchased the property at the foreclosure sale and shortly thereafter conveyed it to plaintiff Stoco, Inc. Stoco rented the property to defendants for a number of years. In addition to the facts found by the court, plaintiffs\u2019 uncontradicted evidence shows that in December 1972 plaintiff Henry H. Stout, president of Stoco, informed defendants that Stoco would no longer rent the house and lot to them and that they were to vacate the premises.\nThe court concluded that Stoco was the owner of the property in question; that defendants were merely tenants at will, and that their tenancy had terminated; and that Stoco was entitled to immediate possession of the property. From a judgment of eviction, defendants appealed to this Court.\nDees, Johnson, Tart, Giles & Tedder, by J. Sam Johnson, Jr., for plaintiff wppellees.\nSmith, Carrington, Patterson, Foll\u00edn & Curtis, by Norman B. Smith, for defendant appellants."
  },
  "file_name": "0387-01",
  "first_page_order": 415,
  "last_page_order": 418
}