LANDLORD AND TENANT-LESSEE'S COVENANT TO PAY TAXES-LIABILITY OF ASSIGNEE WHO HAS REASSIGNED

A 100-year lease contained the following covenant, " . . . lessee further agrees that he will, as additional rent, pay . . . all taxes and assessments . . . which shall, during said term, be levied, assessed, or otherwise imposed. . . The lessee 'agrees that he will pay such taxes . . . before any fine . . . may be added thereto for non-payment thereof." Defendant, assignee of the lessee, had reassigned on December 16, 1936; Plaintiff, lessor, sought to recover from him unpaid taxes for the calendar year 1936. In Minnesota, property taxes are assessed on property valued as of May 1 each year, and a lien attaches to the land as of that date, although the taxes are not payable until the following January 1, and are not delinquent until June 1, thereafter. All steps in the assessment procedure relate back to the May 1 date.

Held, defendant is liable. Whitney v. Leighton, (Minn. 1948) 30 N.W. (2d) 329.