WILLIS WINN, Plaintiff and Counterdefendant-Appellant, v. JOHN G. TURNER et al., Defendants and Counterplaintiffs-Appellees, 55 Ill. App. 3d 291

Summary

Pursuant to an oral lease, the tenant began farming acreage owned by the landlords one fall and continued to farm the land for several years until the landlords gave the tenant a written notice to quit under the lease one September. The tenant filed his declaratory judgment action claiming that the notice was not properly served upon him four months prior to the commencement date of his year-to-year lease, which he claimed was November 1. The landlords counterclaimed on the basis that the lease was properly terminated because the lease commenced on March 1. On appeal, the court agreed with the trial court's finding that the lease commenced on March 1, and, thus, it was properly terminated. The court explained that because the testimony of the parties was in direct conflict, the court could not disturb the trial court's finding on appeal unless it was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. In light of evidence that the custom and usage in the area was that oral year-to-year ...