Deka Development Co. v. Fox

1934 OK 698, 39 P.2d 143, 170 Okla. 228, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 727
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 4, 1934
Docket23416
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1934 OK 698 (Deka Development Co. v. Fox) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deka Development Co. v. Fox, 1934 OK 698, 39 P.2d 143, 170 Okla. 228, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 727 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This action was commenced in the district court of Pottawatomie county by the defendant in error J. N. Eox, as plaintiff, and against A. J. A. Lewis, Sophia Lewis, Deka Development Company, a corporation, and another. Subsequently additional parties defendant were brought in, including the Kiowa Inimber Company.

The plaintiff alleges that on or about the 1st day of April, 1930, he entered into a written contract with the defendants A. J. A. Tjpwis and Sophia Lewis, by which the plaintiff was to furnish certain materials and perform certain labor for the construction of a certain building for the defendants upon a tract of ground located in "Pottawatomie county, particularly described, and known as Benson Park, of which the defendant Deka Development Company was the owner, and the Tjewises lessees, and that at various other times between the 1st day of April, 1930, and the 1st day of June, 1930, the plaintiff entered into a verbal contract with the defendant Tjewises for the furnishing of materials and performing labor in the construction or repair of certain buildings situated upon said property, and alleges that the Deka Development Company, the owner of said property, duly consented to the erection of the buildings on said premises. and that its interest and ownership is subject to, junior, and inferior to the lien of the plaintiff. He alleges that the plaintiff filed his lion statement on June 22, 1930, and that the Lewises are indebted to him in the sum of $1,244, with interest thereon at 6 per cent, from the date of the commencement of the action and $250 attorney’s fees, and prays for a foreclosure of the lien. Ho attaches to his petition a contract between himself and (he Lewises dated April 3, 1930, and a contract between the same parties dated April 19, 1930, and a copy of his lien statement. D. Ij. Day and Jim Day, *230 two of the defendants, filed separate answers and cross-petitions, and they have been satisfied and are out of the case.

The defendant Kiowa Lumber Company filed its separate answer and cross-petition, in which it alleges that it is a corporation duly organized under the laws of Oklahoma; that on or about the 25th day of November, 1929, the defendant Deka Development Company entered into a certain lease in writing with the defendant A. J. A. Lewis, covering the Benson Park property; that it furnished to the defendant A. J. A. Lewis, certain lumber and other building material pursuant to an oral contract with the defendant A. J. A. Lewis, through his agent J. E. Yarnum, which was made on or about the 20th day of May, 1930, and that all of the lumber and material furnished by the cross-petitioner was delivered on the premises and used in the construction of buildings thereon, all of which was furnished with the full knowledge and consent of the defendant Deka Development Company, and on which there is a balance due of $825.40, for which it prays judgment. There is attached to this answer and cross-petition a copy of the materialman’s lien statement filed in the office of the court clerk of that county. The Prudence Thrift Company filed an answer disclaiming any right in the property except a chattel mortgage on certain personal property, which is not material to the issues involved in this appeal.

The Deka Development Company filed its answer to the petition of the plaintiff and the cross-petitions of all other defendants, in which it admits that it was the owner of the real estate described in the plaintiff’s petition and known as Benson Park, and that A. J. A. Lewis was lessee of said real estate under a written contract existing between the Deka Development Company and the said A. J. A. Lewis, and attaches a copy of such contract as an exhibit. It expressly denies that A. J. A. Lewis, or any other person, was authorized by it, either orally or in writing, to purchase building' materials or to employ labor, and that if such materials were sold or labor or services performed, the. same were furnished and performed for A. J. A. Lewis, and not for the answering defendant, and denies that the plaintiff or any of the cross-petitioners have or are entitled to a lien on the property of the answering defendant. It files a cross-petition against the defendants A. J. A. Lewis and Sophia Lewis, in which it alleges that the defendants were to pay the Cross-petitioner $700 a year in advance as rent for Benson Park on the 1st day of May in each year, and that such rent had not been paid, and prayed for judgment for a cancellation of the lease contract and for rent monthly until the date of cancellation, and alleges that the lien statements asserted by the plaintiff and all other cross-petitioners constitute a cloud upon its title to said premises, and prays that the same be canceled and removed. Appropriate replies were filed, and the defendants A. J. A. Lewis and Sophia Lewis filed an answer consisting of a general denial. There seem to have been no pleadings filed on behalf of J. E. Varnum, Davidson & Case Lumber Company, and another, defendants.

The evidence on behalf of the plaintiff showed that he did certain work in wrecking old buildings in Benson Park, and reconstructing and lengthening the swimming pool, and that he built two additional houses, all pursuant (o contracts with A. ,T. A. Lewis and Sophia Lewis, and that he furnished certain material which he had purchased from the Taylor Lumber Company, and for which he had paid and secured a release of Hen which was received in evidence. He identified and there was received in evidence the written contract between the plaintiff and the Lewises dated April 3, 1930, and one dated April 19, 1930, and the original agreement dated November 25, 1929, between the Deka Development Company and the Lewises, together with an assignment of the interest of the Lewises to the plaintiff of the latter contract and his material or mechanic’s lien. He states that the original contract price to him was $1,625, and that he was to give credit for $625 on this amount when he took an assignment of the concessions from the Lewises under their contract, with the Deka Development Company, and that subsequently Lewis had paid him $300, and tliat he was to receive $400 for a bungalow which he constructed for the private benefit of Lewis, which, nevertheless, was located on the premises known as Benson Park, and that he claimed an additional amount of $185 for paint which he had procured for Lewis, and which the plaintiff had paid for himself, and on which he admits that he had no contract. He claims a balance due him of $1,244. The plaintiff had several other witnesses who testified that they worked as laborers under the plaintiff in doing the work in and around the park premises. On cross-examination there was introduced a written contract between the plaintiff and the Lewises, dated February 25, 1930, whereby the plaintiff was to do certain work in making improvements at and in Benson Park, according to plans and specifications which *231 are by tlie terms of said contract made a part thereof, but, which, however, are not in the record in this case. This contract requires the plaintiff to furnish to the Lewises paid receipts from all persons and companies who furnished any material or labor in the construction of said improvements to the end that no materialman’s or mechanic’s liens will be filed upon the property upon which the improvements are made.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 698, 39 P.2d 143, 170 Okla. 228, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deka-development-co-v-fox-okla-1934.