F. D. Rich Co. v. Superior Court of Puerto Rico

99 P.R. 155
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedJune 16, 1970
DocketNo. O-70-7
StatusPublished

This text of 99 P.R. 155 (F. D. Rich Co. v. Superior Court of Puerto Rico) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
F. D. Rich Co. v. Superior Court of Puerto Rico, 99 P.R. 155 (prsupreme 1970).

Opinions

Mr. Justice Ramírez Bages

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The contention in this case requires us to decide as to the availability of garnishment by a materialman of a subcontractor in mechanical work in a housing project of an alleged credit of the subcontractor in the hands of the chief contractor of said housing project. The day before the notice of garnishment the chief contractor had considered the contract of the subcontractor as terminated because of nonperformance and the pending mechanical work was finished by another firm contracted and paid by two other persons.

For two reasons which we state hereinafter we conclude that said garnishment did not lie.

The controversy arises because the intervener, Aníbal Arsuaga Inc. (hereinafter called Arsuaga) which is the materialman in- question, upon obtaining a judgment against the Metropolitan Mechanical Constructors Inc. (hereinafter [158]*158called Metropolitan), the subcontractor of the mechanical work in the aforementioned project, and its surety, for the sum of $29,920.69, requested and obtained from the trial court an order of attachment to secure the effectiveness of said judgment. On the date set to that effect, the marshal notified petitioner (hereinafter called Rich), which was the chief contractor of the project, that “proceeded to attach up to those sums ($29,920.69 of principal and $5,000 of attorney’s fees) any right, title, and interest which Metropolitan may have in the amount of $65,000 which you owe to said defendant on that date” (August 2, 1968). Said order warned Rich to the effect that it shall not make any payment to Metropolitan without the intervention of Arsuaga and/or the court and that any payment of said sums would be null and would constitute contempt of court.

Rich refused to deliver any amount to the marshal. Arsuaga then requested that “the Court order Rich, among others, ... to appear to show cause why it should not be punished for contempt of court upon failing to comply with the payment of the sums attached and/or why a writ of execution of judgment should not be issued, among others, against it.”

In the conference before the hearing of the foregoing request, the parties stipulated that:

(1) Rich contracted Metropolitan to perform the mechanical work of the project for the sum of $391,649.

(2) From that amount Rich had not yet paid the sum of $57,189.29 to Metropolitan on August 1, 1968, when Rich notified Metropolitan’s surety that Metropolitan had incurred in nonperformance of contract and Rich had decided to terminate its contract with Metropolitan.

(3) The writ of garnishment was served upon Rich on August 2,1968.

[159]*159(4) On September 9, 1968 Nolla and Morris contracted David Andújar, Inc. (hereinafter called Andújar) to terminate the contract of Metropolitan with Rich, which has not paid any amount from the $57,189.29 withheld for the termination of said contract by Andújar.

(5) The parties agreed that still there remained to be determined (a) the sum paid by Nolla and Morris to Andú-jar; (b) whether the subcontract was completed to the satisfaction of the owner of the project which was the Urban Renewal and Housing Corporation (U.R.H.C.); and (c) whether or not Rich still owes to Metropolitan the $57,189.29 under the original contract.

(6) In addition to what has been stated, the trial court concluded that Rich alleged that the U.R.H.C. has claims against the withheld amount of $57,189.29 for plumbing deficiencies and smoke test which amount to $2,951.25.

From the oral and documentary evidence introduced in the aforementioned hearing it appears that:

(7) Andújar has received about $44,000 from Nolla and Morris to complete the mechanical work which Metropolitan originally contracted.

(8) The record shows (a) Rich’s approval of this subcontract with Andújar; (b) that the work under this subcontract was completed to the satisfaction of the U.R.H.C., with the exception of the smoke test and some deficiencies in the manholes which were going to be deducted from the contractor both amounting to the sum of $2,951.25; (c) that Rich has not paid any sum to Andújar for the termination of the mechanical work.

(9) The housing project in its entirety was accepted by the U.R.H.C. on January 7,1969.

(10) The U.R.H.C. owes some $370,000 to Rich. Luis Enrique Santiago, Contracting Officer of the U.R.H.C. in charge of the administrative part of the housing project in [160]*160question, testified that the claims of materialmen and subcontractors amounts to $200,000 besides a deficiency in the plastering in regard to which there are contracts for some $60,000; that as far as he knows, Metropolitan has no claim; that if Metropolitan goes to the U.R.H.C. for money owed by Rich, the U.R.H.C. is not going to pay it.

(11) The withholding of $57,000 under Metropolitan’s subcontract was not for work performed.

(12) Arsuaga’s garnishment was the only one received by Rich on August 2, 1968, of funds owed by Rich to Metropolitan.

(13) An executive from Rich testified that Metropolitan was an insolvent debtor. Arsuaga’s counsel informed that Arsuaga has not been able to execute any judgment against-Metropolitan.

(14) An executive from Rich testified that “Aníbal Arsuaga has a claim and other materialmen also have other claims . . . some by complaints; others by letters; others by notifications to the U.R.H.C., and in its case (Arsuaga’s) I think there is no amount fixed_”

The trial court concluded that:

“However, the evidence established that the plumbing-deficiencies indicated amount to $825 and that the claim for the aforementioned smoke test amounted to some $2,126.25, for which reason, if Rich is liable for such claims to the U.R.H.C., the same would amount in total to $2,951.25. If we deduct said amount from the $57,189.29, we must conclude, and thus we do, that Rich owes the sum of $54,238.04 to Metropolitan Mechanical, sum which it has in its possession and which is subject to the results of this action since August 2,1968, when it was partly attached by plaintiff to secure the effectiveness of judgment.”

The trial court distinguished this case from that of Banco Popular v. Vázquez, 97 P.R.R. 155 (decided on April 1, 1969), because in the case at bar “a complete and- final garnishment was performed ... of the funds Rich owed to [161]*161Metropolitan while in Banco Popular, supra, the order of attachment . . . limited the attachment to the condition that the credit to be attached be demandable at the present time”; that Rich violated the order of attachment upon failing to-pay the amount of the attachment to the marshal, but that the ■court preferred to order Rich to pay to Arsuaga within a period of 15 days the sum of $27,434.62 plus $2,700 for attorney’s fees or otherwise the clerk’s office would issue a writ of execution of judgment against said firm.

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Bluebook (online)
99 P.R. 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/f-d-rich-co-v-superior-court-of-puerto-rico-prsupreme-1970.