Santa Fe Hills Golf & Country Club v‪.‬

The defendant, Safehi Realty Company, is the owner of a 56-acre tract of land located at 8600 Holmes Street in Kansas City
which was improved and equipped as a golf and country club. The plaintiff, Santa Fe Hills Golf & Country Club, was in
possession of the property under a written lease for a term of ten years expiring on December 31, 1959. The plaintiff claimed,
and the defendant denied, that the defendant had made a valid extension of this lease for an additional five-year term. As
a result of the controversy, the plaintiff filed this action in two counts, one for a declaratory judgment coupled with a
request for injunctive relief, and the other for specific performance. The trial court found the issues in favor of the plaintiff.
The defendant filed a motion for new trial which was overruled and in due course the defendant appealed. The plaintiff will
sometimes be referred to as the Country Club and the defendant as the Realty Company. The ten-year lease provided that, in the event the lessee held over after the expiration of the term, such holding over would
not be deemed a renewal or extension but should be deemed a month-to-month tenancy at a rental equal to that of the last month.
The Country Club remained in possession after December 31, 1959, and for six months continued to pay the rent provided by
the lease. In May 1960 the Realty Company served notice of the termination of the tenancy as of June 30, 1960, on the theory
that it was from month-to-month. On June 13, 1960, the Country Club filed this action and thereafter on July 11, 1960, the
Realty Company filed in magistrate court a complaint in unlawful detainer which was enjoined by the decree in this case. The
Realty Company's evidence tended to prove that the reasonable rental of the real estate which accrued from June 30, 1960,
to the time of trial was $21,750 in excess of the amount conceded by the Country Club to be due and owing under the lease.
Therefore the amount in dispute, exclusive of costs, exceeds the sum of $15,000 and this court has jurisdiction. Art. V, §
3, Constitution of Missouri 1945; 477.040, RSMo 1959; Merrill v. Davis, 359 Mo. 1191, 225 S.W.2d 763, 764[1];
Veal v. City of St. Louis, 365 Mo. 836, 289 S.W.2d 7, 9[1].