[Download] "Whitehead v. Henry" by Court of Appeals of Georgia # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Whitehead v. Henry
- Author : Court of Appeals of Georgia
- Release Date : January 13, 1951
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 51 KB
Description
Elizabeth Whitehead sued Jim Henry for treble damages for failure to refund alleged overcharges in rent. The petition alleged substantially: that plaintiff rented from defendant certain housing accommodations in Atlanta subject to the Housing and Rent Act of 1947; that such rental period was from January 5, 1948, continuously until December 5, 1949, during which time defendant demanded and collected as rent on such accommodations the amount of $20 per month from January 5, 1948, to August 5, 1949; that defendant failed to register the subject housing accommodations with the Area Rent Office within 30 days from and of the first renting thereof, as required by the Rent Regulations in Sec. 4(e) thereof, which was in effect at the time of the said first renting; that on the 25th day of August, 1949, the Area Rent Director rendered an order decreasing the maximum rent on the subject accommodations and requiring a refund to the tenant, a copy of such order is attached to the petition; that defendant has failed and refused to refund to plaintiff the excess rent or overcharges as required by said order within 30 days after the date of the order and has continued to refuse to refund said excess; that a stay pending appeal from said order has not been procured by defendant as provided by the rent regulations. The rental order attached to the petition was dated August 25, 1949, and recited that the maximum rent on the subject housing accommodations be decreased from $20 per month to $9 per month effective from January 5, 1948, and provided that any rent collected from the effective date of the order in excess of the maximum rent set by the order be refunded to the tenant within 30 days from the date of the order unless the refund is stayed in accordance with the provisions of Rent Procedural Regulation 2. A general demurrer to the petition was sustained, and the action dismissed and plaintiff excepted. The plaintiff alleges that no registration was filed with the Area Rent Office within 30 days of the first renting of the accommodations and that the rent from the first renting was $20 per month. Under Rent Regulation § 825.4(c) which provides: ""For controlled housing accommodations first rental on or after July 1, 1947, the maximum rent shall be the first rent for such accommodations . . ."", the maximum rent on the accommodations, prior to the order of August 25, 1949, was the first rent charged for such accommodations, that is, $20 per month. Under the rulings in Mitcham v. Patterson, 82 Ga. App. 468 (61 S.E.2d 517), and Ivy v. Ferguson, 82 Ga. App. 600 (62 S.E.2d 191), the rent of $20 per month collected until the issuance of the rental order reducing the maximum rent and ordering a refund was the legal maximum rent on the accommodations and an action for triple damages for the failure to refund the difference between the retroactive maximum rent set in the order and the $20 a month rent collected will not lie.