Christianson v. Hughes

122 N.W. 384, 18 N.D. 282, 1909 N.D. LEXIS 43
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJune 29, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 122 N.W. 384 (Christianson v. Hughes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Christianson v. Hughes, 122 N.W. 384, 18 N.D. 282, 1909 N.D. LEXIS 43 (N.D. 1909).

Opinions

Carmody, J.

This case, which was brought for the foreclosure of a mechanic’s lien, is in this court for trial de novo. The complaint alleges that the defendant is the owner of the premises against which the plaintiff seeks to establish a lien, and also the making of the contract, on May 15, 1906, with one D. E. Hughes, the hus[283]*283band of the defendant, under which the plaintiff was to furnish certain materials for the construction, alteration, or repair of a certain building, situate upon land belonging to the defendant, which was then occupied by the said D. E. Hughes and the defendant as a dwelling house. It alleges that between May 15, 1906, and June 29, 1906, at the request of the said D. E. Hjughes, and by and with consent of the defendant, the plaintiff sold and delivered to the said D. E. Hughes building materials of the value of $77.10. ' It further alleges that said materials were furnished for, and were used in and upon, the construction, alteration, or repair of said dwelling house, and by and with the consent of the said defendant. The answer puts in issue every material allegation of the complaint, except that defendant admits her ownership of the premises in 'dispute, and that the same constitute the homestead of herself and husband. The case was tried to the court without a jury, and resulted in a personal judgment in favor of the plaintiff, and against the defendant, for the sum of $122.02 damages and costs, adjudging a lien therefor upon the premises in controversy, and directing the foreclosure thereof. The personal judgment was rendered inadvertently.

The plaintiff established at the trial that he sold to D. E. Hughes paint, oil, white lead, and other material used in painting the said dwelling house, and states the circumstances as follows: D. E. Hughes on or about May 15, 1906, came into the store of plaintiff and said: “Lars, I want to get some paint to paint my house, and as soon as I get through, I will come in and give you a check for it.” The plaintiff further testified that D. E. Hughes at one time was running a wagon shop in Fargo, and that he purchased from plaintiff paints and varnishes for painting buggies, also paint the year before to prime his house, and that he paid for them. The testimony further shows that $10 worth of the paint was sufficient to paint the house one coat; that D. E. Hughes was sent to the insane asylum on the 22d day of June, 1906; that after his incarceration in the asylum the defendant got Mr. Nelson, a painter in Fargo, to paint the house one coat, and that the paint then used cost less than $9. This last-mentioned painting was necessary, on account of the condition of the building after the painting done by D. E. Hughes with the materials he purchased from plaintiff. The plaintiff does not claim to have ever had any conversation, understanding or agreement with defendant on the subject. He relies [284]*284solely upon the implied consent on her part to use the materials 'upon her house, and to the furnishing of them by the plaintiff. Defendant testified that she never consented to the use of the materials, or of the purchase of them for her house. She several times 'protested -to her husband against painting the house with these materials. She told him he had painted the house the year before, and that it did not need painting, and that they could not afford ■it. She did not know, she never knew, where D. E. Hughes was 'procuring the paint. He had money with which he could have paid for the paint. He said he was paying for it. She never received any notice from plaintiff that he was extending credit for the materials. She testified that D. E. Hughes bought paint all his life, and she neved paid any attention to it. She did not know where 'he bought it, or who furnished the paint the year before. She did not give notice to the plaintiff of her objection to his furnishing the materials. The alleged lien was duly filed on the 27th day of September, 1906.

Section 6237, Rev. Codes 1905, is as follows: “Any person who shall perform any labor upon or furnish any materials, machinery or fixtures for the construction or repair of any work of internal improvement or for the erecting, alteration or repair of any buildings or other structures upon land, or in making any other improvements thereon, including fences, sidewalks, paving, wells, trees, grades, drains or excavations under a contract with the owner of such land, his agent, trustee, 'contractor or subcontractor, or with the consent of such owner, shall upon complying with the provisions of this chapter have * * * a lien upon such building, erection or improvement and upon the land belonging to such owner. * * * The owner shall be presumed to have consented to the doing of any such labor or making of any-such improvement, if at the time he had knowledge thereof, and did not give notice of his objection thereto to the person entitled to the lien.” The case must turn largely upon the construction to be placed upon said section 6237 of the Revised Codes of 1905. It is not claimed, on the part of the plaintiff, that he had at any time, either directly or indirectly, any contractual relation with the defendant, or that her husband was either the agent, trustee, contractor or subcontractor of the defendant. He admits that his contract was with D. E. Hughes, the husband of the defendant alone. He claims, however, that the defendant, having had actual knowledge that the improve-[285]*285merits were being made, and having failed to give the notice required by said section 6237, must be held to have impliedly consented to the furnishing of the materials. He contends that this is the construction placed upon similar statutes, and cites a large number of cases to sustain his contention. An examination of these cases shows that they were decided under statutes unlike ours. Section 3509, Rev. Laws Minn. 1905, as far as material here, reads as follows: “But any person who has not authorized the same may protect his interest from such liens by serving upon the persons doing the work or otherwise contributing to such improvement, within five days after knowledge thereof, written notice that the improvement is not being made.at his instance, or by posting like notice and keeping the same posted in a conspicuous place on the premises.” The mechanic’s lien statutes of California and Oregon are practically the same as the statutes of Minnesota as far as giving notice is concerned. In some of the other states the statutes require the owner to file notice of his objection in the office of the county clerk.

In Wheaton v. Berg, 50 Minn. 525, 52 N. W. 926, the defendant Nilson sold a vacant lot to defendant Berg, the purchase price to be paid within 90 days. The sale contract did not provide for the erection of a building, but provided tíiat in case of non-performance by the vendee “all the improvements on said premises or which may be made thereon” should become the property of the vendor. Berg erected a house upon the premises. It was found as a fact by the court -that he purchased the lot for that purpose, and that Nilson knew this when he contracted to sell; that he knew that the house was being constructed from the time when the building -operations were commenced, and that he never made any -objections thereto. Neither did he post any notice on the premises, as -required-by said section 3509 hereinbefore quoted. Held, that the parties who performed labor on said dwelling house, or furnished material therefor, were entitled to liens on the premises. In Harlan et al., v. Stuffiebeem et al., 87 Cal. 508, 25 Pac.

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Related

Christianson v. Hughes
122 N.W. 384 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1909)

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Bluebook (online)
122 N.W. 384, 18 N.D. 282, 1909 N.D. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christianson-v-hughes-nd-1909.