Delyea v. Turner

118 N.W.2d 436, 264 Minn. 169, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 842
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedNovember 16, 1962
Docket38,216
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 118 N.W.2d 436 (Delyea v. Turner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Delyea v. Turner, 118 N.W.2d 436, 264 Minn. 169, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 842 (Mich. 1962).

Opinions

Murphy, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the district court denying the plaintiff’s motion for amended findings of fact or in the alternative for a new trial. The plaintiff sought to recover the reasonable value [170]*170of labor, material, and supplies furnished to the defendants and to have a lien established for the amount involved against the real property of the defendants. By its order the trial court held that the plaintiff was entitled to $1,581.08 from the defendants rather than $5,715.13, the amount claimed. It further held that the plaintiff’s right to a lien was defeated by his act of filing a lien claim in an amount grossly in excess of what was actually due him.

Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the prevailing party in the court below, it establishes that in the fall of 1958 the plaintiff, David M. Delyea, doing business as Wykoff Lumber Company, discussed with the defendant Earl G. Turner, a dairy farmer, the construction of certain buildings and improvements for the defendant’s farm. There were several conferences between the parties. It appears that Mr. Turner, hereinafter called the defendant, proposed to construct upon his premises certain facilities for use in his dairy business which would qualify his milk for a higher grade and consequently a better price. He had acquired an old schoolhouse which he proposed to move to his premises and remodel into a “parlor milker.” The proposed improvements consisted of a pole barn, which was to be a structure enclosed on three sides, the sides and roof being constructed in part of corrugated steel; the remodeling of the schoolhouse; and the construction of a “holding area,” which was to be an open space located next to the milking parlor with 600 square feet of concrete floor enclosed by posts.

Subsequent to their original meeting the plaintiff took the defendant to at least two farms in the neighborhood where modem milking facilities had been constructed and installed. The plaintiff also went to the defendant’s farm and looked over the area and the old schoolhouse the defendant had purchased. He then provided the defendant with a statement setting forth the dimensions of the various buildings to be constructed and a sketchy reference to the installation of footings, stalls, partitions, water system, and other features. The statement did not contain complete details and specifications. The copy of the statement given to the defendant contains the figure $4,000. The plaintiff testified that he told the defendant the job would cost approximately [171]*171$4,000. He handed the defendant the piece of paper with these notations. The paper was not signed. There was no formal written contract. The defendant testified that at the time the paper was given to him there was an oral agreement that the work referred to both in the paper and in the conversation between them would be performed for the sum of $4,000.

Work was commenced about November 15, 1958. While the work was in progress, on February 24, 1959, the defendant paid the plaintiff the sum of $3,000. When the work was completed the plaintiff determined that the reasonable value of materials and labor which went into the job was $8,715.13 and demanded payment of the difference. The defendant refused payment, asserting that the plaintiff was entitled to no more than the agreed amount of $4,000. The plaintiff thereupon filed a lien for the sum of $5,715.13, which allowed for credit of the $3,000 previously paid. The plaintiff sought by this action to secure a judgment for the balance claimed and to enforce a lien therefor.

The case was tried before the court without a jury. The court found that there was a contract entered into by which the plaintiff agreed to perform the work and provide the material for the job for the sum of $4,000. It determined that there was a balance of $1,000 due on the contract. Pursuant to a stipulation entered into between the parties with reference to extra work performed and materials supplied by the plaintiff not covered by the original agreement, and making allowance for work which was originally included in the contract but not performed, the court determined that there was an additional amount due the plaintiff of $581.08, making a total of $1,581.08.1

[172]*1721. In considering the issues presented we must keep in mind the cardinal rule that' findings of a trial court are entitled to the same weight as those of a jury and will not be reversed unless manifestly and palpably contrary to the evidence. Gifford v. Vore, 245 Minn. 432, 72 N. W. (2d) 625; In re Estate of Dahl, 249 Minn. 156, 81 N. W. (2d) 701; Hynan v. First Trust Co. 258 Minn. 118, 103 N. W. (2d) 209; Alsdorf v. Svoboda, 239 Minn. 1, 57 N. W. (2d) 824. The trial court, who heard the evidence, saw the witnesses, and took the trouble to visit the site of the improvement with counsel for both sides, as he had a right to, resolved conflicts in the testimony of the parties in favor of the defendants.

2. The plaintiff argues that the record does not support the court’s finding that a contract in the sum of $4,000 was ever entered into between the parties and that the court should have granted recovery on the basis of the reasonable value of services performed and material furnished. The trial court carefully considered the evidence bearing upon the acts and statements of the parties relating to the agreement. While it is true no written contract was entered into which specifically set forth plans and specifications, it nevertheless satisfactorily appears from the testimony of both parties that most, if not all, of the details with reference to the work to be done and material to be furnished was orally agreed upon in substantially definite terms. In his testimony plaintiff related at some length the specifications of the various kinds of material which were to be used in the work. During the course of his examination, the court inquired:

“The Court: Are you telling how you are building?
“The Witness: How it was supposed to be built, and how it was built, yes.
“The Court: Well, which did you build it, the. way it was supposed to be built?
“The Witness: Yes, right.”

Later in plaintiff’s testimony, after he had described the work and material involved in the project, the court inquired:

[173]*173“The Court: Did he ask you for a bid, did he ask you to bid on it?
“The Witness: No, I approached him, he didn’t approach me, I approached him and asked him if I could have the opportunity of giving an estimate on his pole building.
“The Court: What I am trying to find out is, from your talk,- you gather that he understood you were going to do it for $4,000.00?
“The Witness: I would say that he understood that I was going to do it, what he had figured we’d do.
“The Court: For $4,000.00?
“The Witness: For $4,000.00, yes.
“The Court: And you expected to do what you had figured to do, you had expected to do that for $4,000.00?
“The Witness: Our way, yes.
“The Court: All right,”

There is no contention here that this is a contract required by law to be in writing.

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Delyea v. Turner
118 N.W.2d 436 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 N.W.2d 436, 264 Minn. 169, 1962 Minn. LEXIS 842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/delyea-v-turner-minn-1962.