## Facts

- Molyneux leased a house to White for rent.
- During the lease term, the house was destroyed by fire.
- The available record does not attribute the fire to either party’s fault.
- After the fire, White stopped paying rent, asserting the destruction ended or excused his payment obligation.
- The lease, as described in the record, contained no express term excusing rent or reallocating casualty loss risk if the premises were damaged or destroyed by fire.
- Molyneux sued White to recover unpaid rent accruing after the fire.

## Issues

1. Whether, absent an express lease provision to the contrary, a tenant’s covenant to pay rent continues when the leased house is destroyed by fire during the lease term.
2. Whether destruction of the principal structure on leased premises terminates the leasehold estate or discharges the tenant from rent at common law.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed judgment for Molyneux.
- The court held White remained obligated to pay rent despite the fire because the lease did not contain a casualty clause excusing rent.
- The court treated the lease as conveying an interest in land such that the rent covenant did not automatically end upon destruction of the building.
- The court declined to imply a contractual term shifting the loss to the landlord when the parties had not included such a term.
- The court also reasoned that automatic discharge of rent upon destruction could invite intentional damage by tenants seeking to avoid rental obligations.

## Legal Principles

- At common law, absent an express agreement, the tenant bears the risk of accidental destruction of leased premises and remains liable for rent.
- A lease is treated as conveying a leasehold estate in the land; destruction of a building on the land does not, by itself, extinguish the estate or the rent covenant.
- Courts will not imply a casualty-relief term into a lease when the parties did not contract for rent abatement or termination upon fire.
- Policy concerns against fraud or intentional destruction may support maintaining rent liability where the lease is silent on casualty loss.

## Conclusion

The court enforced the tenant’s rent obligation after the leased house burned because the lease contained no provision excusing rent or reallocating casualty risk, applying the common-law rule that accidental destruction does not discharge the tenant’s covenant to pay rent.


White v. Molyneux, 2 Ga. 124 (Ga. 1847)