Dekle v. Valrico Sandstone Co.

77 So. 95, 74 Fla. 346
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedNovember 19, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 77 So. 95 (Dekle v. Valrico Sandstone Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dekle v. Valrico Sandstone Co., 77 So. 95, 74 Fla. 346 (Fla. 1917).

Opinion

Whitfield, J.

It appears that V. Spoto, P. Spoto and S. Spoto owners of Lot One, Block 78 Ybor City, contracted in writing on June 8, 1914, with Parrish & Goin, copartners, that the latter should on or before October 8, 1914, erect, finish and deliver a building of stated specifications on the lot for $16,250.00, the contractors to furnish all material and labor; that to secure the performance of the contract by Parrish & Goin and for the protection of the owners of the lot and others referred to in the instrument, a bond in the penal sum of $8,500.00 was executed June 8, 1914, by Thomas S. Parrish and James D. Goin, copartners, as principals, and by Lee Dekle and T. B. Sherrill, as sureties; that about Sep [349]*349tembér 19, 1914, the contractors abandoned the contract, leaving the building unfinished; that the owners completed the building at a cost equal to or in excess of the contract price. On January 28, 1916, Lee Dekle and T. B. Sherrill filed a bill of complaint in equity against the appellees, including those Who furnished material and labor to the contractors in erecting the building and the owners of the lot and the contractors, alleging that the building was completed prior to December 15, 1914; that subsequent to the completion of the building thirty-six of thé defendants in this suit whose names are stated in full and who have brought thirty-six actions against the complainants herein on their bond for the payment of labor or materials alleged to have been furnished to the contractors for and during the construction of the building; that the aggregate amount of such claims -is $3,310.45, or more, and for attorney fees; that six of the other defendants in this suit will institute like suits for $2,287.66; that the owners of the lot and building claim and will sue for a liability against complainants upon- their bond $3,061.00; that the aggregate claims amount to $8,659.11 and with interest total not less than $9,500.00--exclusive of attorney fees. The bill of complaint contains-the'following allegations: (6) That the first named 36 defendants in this suit “and the defendants, American Sheet-Metal Works, Jetton Lumber Company, Tampa Elecfrical Supply Company, T. W: Bamsey, Coates Plumbing Supply Company and Hillsborough Lumber Company, to the extent to which they, or any of them, performed any labor or furnished any material in or for the construction of the building hereinbefore referred to, did the said work for, and furnished the said material to, the contractors aforesaid, without the said plaintiffs and said defendants, or any of them, before or [350]*350during the performance of the said labor and furnishing of said materials, delivering or causing to be delivered to the said owners, or any of them, or his or their agent, any written cautionary notice that said plaintiffs and said defendants, or any of them, would do said work, or any work, or would furnish said materials, to or for said contractors. And your orators aver that no such cautionary notice as aforesaid, or any cautionary notice, was given by said (36) plaintiffs and said (other) defendants, or any of them, to the said owners- or any of them or his or their agent, before or during the furnishing of the alleged labor and materials to the said contractors. And your orators further aver that the said plaintiffs and the said defendants American Sheet Metal Works, Jetton Lumber Company, Tampa Electrical Supply Company, T. W. Ramsey, Coates Plumbing Supply Company and Hillsborough Lumber Company, and each off them, at all times before the filing of this bill of complaint, neglected and failed to deliver or cause to be delivered to the said owners, or any of them, or his or their agent, any written notice that the said Parrish & Goin, contractors, were indebted to them, or any of them, in any sum, at -any time when any amount was unpaid on the building contract hereinbefore referred to by the said owners, which then was or thereafter became due, owing or payable by the said owners upon the said contract. And your orators further aver that there was no amount due, owing or payable upon the building contract hereinbefore mentioned from the said owners at the time- of the delivery, or after the delivery, of any lien, notice or notices, given, or attempted to be given, to said owners, or any of them, or his or their agent, by any of the (defendants who are the) said plaintiffs (in the 36 pending suits referred to), or the [351]*351six defendants last above named;” * * * (7) “that at the time of the execution and delivery of the bond hereinbefore mentioned, there was in the possession of the obligees named therein, to-wit, the owners, the full amount of the contract price agreed by the said owners to be paid to the said contractors for the construction of the building provided for in said building contract, to-wit, the sum of Sixteen Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Dollars; that as between your orators and the said owners, the said money, after the execution of the said bond, was held by the said owners in a trust capacity, to be applied in the manner, and no other, prescribed in said building contract for the payment of the same to the said contractors; that the said owners, were without right or authority to disburse or pay out the said funds in any manner other than as prescribed and set forth in said contract; that nevertheless, the said owners, without the consent or acquiescence of your orators, or either of them, and to the prejudice of your orators and each of them, made material departures from, or. changes in said building contract hereinbefore mentioned, bn the time and manner of the making of the payments of the contract price for the construction of said building to the said contractors, and that large payments made by said owners, the exact amount of which is unknown to your orators, aggregating Five Thousand Dollars or more, were paid out by the said owners to the said contractors in violation of provisions made in said contract, in that said, payments exceeded, when made, more than eighty per cent, of the cost of materials furnished and built in, and the cost of labor performed on the said building, and said payments were made without a certificate from A. L. Shaw, the architect therein named, and who was then acting as architect, under the said-[352]*352contract, to the effect that said architect knew that said work was correctly and thoroughly done, and that the said architect considered the said payments properly due, and that said payments were made without there being a certificate obtained from the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Hillsborough County, Florida, that said clerk had carefully examined the Public Records of said county and found no liens or claims recorded against said building, or on account of the said contractors, and without a certificate from said architect receipted by each artisan and laborer employed upon the said building that he had been paid in full, and without the said contractors, or either of them, making oath according to the said architect’s certificate that all bills had been paid and that there were no unpaid accounts against the said building, and large payments were made, amounting to Five Thousand Dollars, or more,, the exact amount being to your orators unknown, without said owners reserving twenty per cent, during the progress of the work to be paid upon the final completion and full acceptance thereof, and further' payments of large sums of money were made the exact amount being to your orators unknown, more frequently than weekly, as provided for in said contract.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
77 So. 95, 74 Fla. 346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dekle-v-valrico-sandstone-co-fla-1917.