Job v Potton (1875) LR 20 Eq 84
Liability for shares of profits of tenants in common under the Statute of Anne.
Facts
Three persons, Mr. Job, Mr. Potton and Mr. Marriot, were tenants in common of a coal mine. Potton and Marriot came to an agreement with the neighbouring coal miner, Mr. Jones, whom they licensed to work their two undivided thirds of the coal, without the third tenant’s knowledge or consent. Upon discovery of this arrangement, Job claimed trespass, that injury had been done to the surface, and that the acts amounted to destructive waste.
Issues
The question arose as to (1) whether Mr. Jones was guilty of trespass by extracting the coal, and (2) whether under the Statute of Anne that enables an action of account to be brought by a tenant in common, the two tenants in common were liable to the third for damages and an account of the value of the coal sold.
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Decision/Outcome
The working of the mine under the co-tenants’ licence was not treated as a trespass or destructive waste merely because Job had not consented. Extracting coal was a lawful use of the mine, provided that the working co-tenants did not appropriate more than their share of the proceeds. Their right to work the coal therefore had to be distinguished from their obligation to account to Job for his share. The result did not give a co-owner an unrestricted right to damage or destroy jointly owned property.
