Brescia Construction Co. v. Walart Construction Co.

238 A.D. 360, 264 N.Y.S. 862, 1933 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9506
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJune 2, 1933
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 238 A.D. 360 (Brescia Construction Co. v. Walart Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brescia Construction Co. v. Walart Construction Co., 238 A.D. 360, 264 N.Y.S. 862, 1933 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9506 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1933).

Opinion

Merrell, J.

Plaintiff brings this action for the foreclosure of a mechanic’s lien. In its original complaint the plaintiff alleged that the defendant Walart Construction Company, Inc., was the owner of certain real property described in the complaint. Plaintiff then alleges in said complaint that a contract was entered into between the Walart Company and plaintiff on December 12, 1922, whereby plaintiff was to do certain excavation work for said defendant at an agreed price of $8,700, on which the sum of $7,297.55 was paid, leaving a balance unpaid of $1,402.45. Plaintiff alleges the due performance of the contract and the furnishing of materials required of the plaintiff, and that plaintiff duly completed the same, furnishing extra materials and performing extra work in and about the additional excavating in respect to the additional stone work for foundation walls in the building. The complaint alleges that the agreed price and reasonable value of the contract work, extra work, and the amount paid thereon was as follows:

Contract work.................................. $8,700 00
Extra for excavation............................. 5,310 00
Extra for additional stone work................... 4,778 20
Total...................................... $18,788 20
Amount paid........................-............ 7,297 55
Leaving a balance of......................... $11,490 65

It is alleged by the plaintiff that the labor and materials were furnished by plaintiff for the improvement of the property in question. Plaintiff then alleges the filing of a notice of lien on June 29, 1923, which it alleges was within four months after the completion of the work. It is alleged in the complaint that said notice of lien states the name of the owner, the interest of the owner in the property, the name of the person by whom the plaintiff was employed, the labor performed and materials furnished and agreed price and value thereof, the time when the first and last items of labor and materials were performed and furnished, and a description of the real property. The plaintiff alleges that the lien was discharged by order of the court upon the making and execution by the defendant, appellant, of a bond in the sum of $12,000. The surety company answered in the action, admitting the ownership of the property, the making of the contract, and [362]*362that the work and materials performed and furnished by the plaintiff were .performed and furnished for the improvement of the real property in question, and also admits the execution of the bond and the discharge of the lien. The defendant, however, denies the due performance of the contract, and denies that the value and agreed price of the extra work were as alleged in the complaint. The defendant, in its answer, denied that the notice of lien was filed within four months from the time the last item of labor was performed and materials were furnished, and denied that the notice of Hen set out the labor performed and the materials furnished, together with the agreed price .and value thereof, and denied that the time when the first and last items of labor and material were performed and furnished were set out in said notice of Hen, and denied the aHegations of the complaint that the notice of Hen compHed with the statute. The amended answer of the Walart Company set up that the contract between the plaintiff and the Walart Company contained a provision requiring that aH questions that may arise under this contract and in the performance of the work thereunder shaU be submitted to arbitration at the choice of either of the parties hereto,” and that the said Walart Construction Company, Inc., elected to arbitrate and had demanded arbitration. The affidavit of Antonio M. Brescia, president of the plaintiff, was read in support of the plaintiff’s application for summary judgment. It appears therefrom that plaintiff acceded to the demand of the Walart Company for arbitration, and that the arbitration was thereupon had and that an award was made in favor of plaintiff by the arbitrators for the sum of $10,941.60, with interest on $1,400 thereof from June 12, 1923. After the award was made the plaintiff served a supplemental complaint in which it aUeged that after the commencement of the present action arbitration was demanded, and that the plaintiff acceded to such demand, and that arbitrators were appointed, and that all the parties, including the defendant, appeUant, appeared before the arbitrators and adduced proof for and against the issues raised by the pleadings, and that the arbitrators admitted that the plaintiff duly performed the work and furnished the materials, as alleged in the complaint, and that the arbitrators found there was due plaintiff therefor $10,941.60, and that judgment was entered against both defendants for the sum of $11,807.62. By the amended answer of the defendant, appellant, to plaintiff’s supplemental complaint, the aHegations of the supplemental complaint are substantiaHy admitted, except that the defendant, appellant, denied that there was adduced before the arbitrators testimony respecting aU the issues raised by the pleadings. The contract between [363]*363plaintiff and Walart Construction Company, Inc., provided that “ the decision of the arbitrators upon any question subject to arbitration under this contract shall be a condition precedent to any right of legal action.” (Italics are the writer’s.)

It, therefore, clearly appears from the pleadings and the affidavits filed on plaintiff’s application for summary judgment that the issues arising with reference to the performance of the contract and the amount and value of the extra work were passed upon and decided by the arbitrators, and that the issues raised by the amended answer of the surety company to plaintiff’s supplemental complaint which would determine the validity of the lien, viz., whether it was filed within the time required by law, and whether it contained the facts required to be set forth pursuant to section 9 of the Lien Law, have never been passed upon or tried.

There can be no question that in order to recover of the defendant, appellant, it must appear that the notice of lien was valid. The bond itself complied with the requirement of the Lien Law, section 19, subdivision 4, the condition of said bond being as follows: Now, the condition of this obligation is such, that if the above bounden Walart Construction Co., Inc. shall well and truly pay any judgment which may be rendered against said property in favor of the aforesaid lienor.” The bond takes the place of the real property upon which the lien was asserted. (Morton v. Tucker, 145 N. Y. 244.) There can be no obligation on the part of the surety if the notice of lien in any respect fails.

We are of the opinion that the pleadings present several issues of fact affecting the validity of'the notice of lien which may not have been determined and which can only be decided after a trial before a court or jury. We think the following undetermined issues are presented: First, as to whether the filing of the notice of lien was timely. Plaintiff, in the complaint, alleges that it filed the notice of lien within four months after the completion of the contract and within four months after the last item of work was performed and materials furnished. In the defendant’s answer this allegation is denied.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tri-City Electric Co. v. People
96 A.D.2d 146 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1983)
Jimden Realty Corp. v. Cohle
36 Misc. 2d 198 (New York Supreme Court, 1962)
Blackman-Shapiro Co. v. Salzberg
8 Misc. 2d 972 (City of New York Municipal Court, 1957)
Midland Union Group, Inc. v. McMullen
167 Misc. 806 (New York Supreme Court, 1938)
Brescia Construction Co. v. Walart Construction Co.
245 A.D. 105 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1935)
Gold v. Frank Teicher, Inc.
239 A.D. 285 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1933)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
238 A.D. 360, 264 N.Y.S. 862, 1933 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brescia-construction-co-v-walart-construction-co-nyappdiv-1933.