Mossi

The only question involved is whether a demand for the payment of rent is a condition precedent to the enforcement of the forfeiture of a lease. The premises were rented for the term of seven years and four months, commencing on the fourth day of July, 1910, for the monthly rental of $7.50, payable monthly in advance on the fourth day of each month during said term. It was provided in the lease “that if any rent shall be due and unpaid or if default shall be made in any of the covenants herein contained, then it shall be lawful for the party of the first part to reenter said premises and to remove all persons therefrom.” The action was brought to recover possession of the property in consequence of the failure of the lessee to pay the rent as agreed. In the complaint there was no allegation of demand for the rent, and for this omission the court sustained defendant’s general demurrer. Plaintiff declining to amend, judgment of dismissal was entered, from which the appeal was taken.

Undoubtedly the general rule is that a demand for the rent must be made before forfeiture will be decreed. In Sauer v. Meyer, 87 Cal. 34, [ 25 Pac. 153 ], it is said: “The appellant here claims that she…