Opinion
32978.
DECIDED MAY 30, 1950.
Action for treble damages; nonsuit; from Fulton Civil Court — Judge Carpenter. January 18, 1950.
Frank A. Bowers, for plaintiff.
L. D. Burns Jr., for defendants.
Where — in an action seeking to recover treble damages and attorney's fees for an alleged violation of the Housing and Rent Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.A., App. § 1881 et seq.) by the defendant landlord in demanding, receiving, and accepting rents for a designated period in excess of the maximum prescribed by law — there is no evidence of what rents were demanded, received, and accepted during the designated period, there is no basis for an assessment of damages of any kind; and the statutory damages being the sole basis of the plaintiff's action, he fails to establish his case as laid, and the trial court does not err in granting a nonsuit.
Judgment affirmed. Gardner and Townsend, JJ., concur.
DECIDED MAY 30, 1950.
The plaintiff, Ike Snead, brought an action against Louis Teplis, Alan B. Ford, and C. B. Hix, seeking to recover treble damages for an alleged overcharge in rents. The material allegations of the petition are: "At all times material hereto and until and including September 1, 1948, there was in full force and effect a Regulation (10 F. R. 13528) prescribing maximum rents for the use and occupancy of housing accommodations in the Atlanta, Georgia, Defense-Rental Area; and at all times since September 1, 1948, there has been and is now in full force and effect a housing regulation entitled `Controlled Housing Rent Regulation' (12 F. R. 4331) which among other things, prescribes maximum rents for the use or occupancy of housing accommodations in said Defense-Rental Area, issued and promulgated under the authority of the Housing and Rent Act of 1947, as amended, both of which are hereinafter cited as the `Regulation.' During all times herein within the meaning of the Regulation, the defendants herein were landlords in relation to the Avalon Apartment Hotel (now known as the Sidney Apartment Hotel) 87 Harris Street, N.W.., Atlanta, Georgia, within Fulton County and the Atlanta Defense-Rental Area. Defendants have engaged in acts and practices which constitute violations of Section 206 of the Act and the said Regulation in that defendants have, while said Act and Regulation were in effect, demanded and received from the plaintiff for the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit in said premises, rates in excess of the legal maximum. Since and during the period September 1, 1948 to August 31, 1949, defendant demanded and received from the plaintiff as tenant of Apartment 109, located in said housing accommodations, now known as the Sidney Apartment Hotel, 87 Harris Street, N.W., the sum of $21.00 per week rent for the use and occupancy thereof, the legal maximum rent therefor then and there being $11.00 per week." These allegations were followed by a prayer for treble damages and attorney's fees. Upon the trial of the case and after the plaintiff had rested his case, there being no evidence of what rents were demanded, received, and accepted during the designated period the court granted a motion to nonsuit, and the plaintiff excepted.