Hypothetical - This hypothetical assumes that Venable leased a storefront to Schumann for 10 years, reserving a rent of $5,000 per month, which Schumann promised to pay.

Three years later, Schumann sold his store business to Cobbler, assigning the lease to the premises.
Another 14 months went by and Cobbler abandoned possession and quit paying rent.

(Note: As is the case with most of our hypotheticals regarding Property, the use of visuals greatly enhances the ability to understand the facts and the rules. Please refer to our free Property Advisor course for examples.)

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Question - True or false - Venable can still recover rent from Cobbler based on privity on estate even though Cobbler does not have possession of the premises or anything to do with them.

Answer and Explanation - True. As explained earlier, even though Cobbler, has abandoned possession and quit paying rent, he still has a legal right to possession.

The fact that he’s squandering the value (“rent”) that he’s entitled to have out of the land doesn’t mean, in the eyes of the law, that he’s not getting that value.

In other words, Cobbler is deemed to be receiving value (“rent”) rising up and reserved by the landlord and he therefore remains liable, in privity of estate, for the reserved rent.
So summarizing Venable’s situation to this point:

We see that Venable can recover rent from:
1. Schumann, the assignor, based on privity of contract.

2. Cobbler, the assignee, based on privity of estate.

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