Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. State Public School Building Authority

26 Pa. D. & C.2d 717, 1961 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 110
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County
DecidedJanuary 9, 1961
Docketno. 474
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 26 Pa. D. & C.2d 717 (Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. State Public School Building Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. State Public School Building Authority, 26 Pa. D. & C.2d 717, 1961 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 110 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1961).

Opinion

Neely, P. J.,

In this proceeding in equity, plaintiff, Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co., herein called “surety,” was the surety on the performance and labor and material bonds involved herein. Defendants are State Public School Building Authority, herein called “authority,” and Brownsville Construction Company, herein called “contractor.” The contractor, on May 81, 1957, entered into a construction contract, no. 529-446-1, with the authority for the building of several school building units in the [719]*719Borough of Deemston, Washington County, at a contract price of $1,068,000. The performance bond, as well as the bond for labor and materials, was made part of the contract, in furtherance of the provisions of section 10 of the Act of July 5, 1947, P. L. 1217, as amended, 24 PS §791.10.

The complaint filed December 15, 1958, alleges the contract and that the contractor was in financial difficulties; that a certain requisition for a monthly installment payment in the amount of $73,184.22 (requisition no. 16) had been submitted to the authority according to the terms of the contract; that the authority was preparing its check for such installment for delivery to the contractor; that said installment had been assigned as security for other indebtedness; that said monthly installment payment might be diverted to the payment of such other indebtedness, and the surety then called upon to respond to the terms of its bonds given to secure the performance of the contract and the payment of laborers and materialmen. The bill prays for a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining the authority from paying, and the contractor from receiving, any part of the monthly installment and asks for the appointment of a receiver.

After notice to all parties, this court, on December 15, 1958, entered a preliminary injunction enjoining the authority from paying and the contractor from accepting the installment payment. The parties to the record at that time agreed that the court should enter this injunction.

The Gallatin National Bank, herein called “bank,” intervened as a party plaintiff and filed its complaint on January 14, 1959, in which it averred that on May 10, 1956, in order to secure a line of credit, the contractor assigned to the bank all of its accounts receivable, present and future; that the contractor and the bank executed financing statements which were filed in the offices of the Prothonotaries of Washington [720]*720County and Fayette County on May 12, 1956, and in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth .on May 14, 1956; that in reliance on the installment payment and the specific account receivable of the contractor due from the authority in said amount of $73,184.22, credit in the amount of $58,400 was extended to the contractor for the purpose of paying labor and material claims in connection with contract no. 529-466-1. The bank asserts a prior claim in the balance in the hands of the authority by virtue of the assignment dated May 10, 1956. The surety filed an answer to the bank’s complaint on March 2, 1959, with new matter denying the bank’s claim and the bank replied. It should be noted that the intervention of the bank was allowed on January 14, 1959, by agreement of all parties.

The authority has filed a stipulation that it now holds in its hands the sum of $16,777.42, which is the sum now due for work performed under the construction contract. The authority acknowledges that the money in controversy is due and owing and is willing to pay this money into court, or to any other person or persons as the court may direct. The question raised by the pleadings is to whom this balance now in the hands of the authority as a stakeholder should be paid.

The parties have entered into a stipulation of the facts, and we adopt that stipulation as our findings of fact in this case. The pertinent findings will herein be discussed to the extent necessary to the disposition of the matter now before us.

In its application to the surety for the execution of performance and labor and material bonds, as required by the Act of July 5,1947, supra, 24 PS §791.10, the contractor, on May 31, 1957 (the date of the application) , assigned to the surety its rights under the construction contract, which assignment was contingent upon the surety’s being obliged to fulfill any of the terms of that contract in the event of the con[721]*721tractor’s default, or was required to make payment for labor and materials. The construction contract was also executed on May 31, 1957, and those matters pertaining to execution of the performance and labor and material bonds were incorporated into that contract.

The construction contract provided that the contractor should receive from the authority installment payments as the work progressed. These have sometimes been referred to as progress installment payments. There was a provision, however, for the retention by the authority of 10 percent of each installment payment and for the withholding of the final installment payment until the construction contract had been completed and the school building units accepted by the authority. The contractor entered upon the work, and, in accordance with the terms of the contract, received from the authority, as the work progressed, installment payments in the amount of $672,041.48, based upon periodical estimates which had been approved by the authority.

On November 21, 1958, the contractor submitted to the authority estimate and requisition no. 16 for installment payment in the amount of $73,184.22. As of November 21, the retained percentage withheld from prior installment payments amounted to $82,802, the total accumulated installment payments in the hands of the authority (including estimate no. 16 and the retained percentages from prior estimates not then payable) being the sum of $155,986. On November 20, 1958, the contractor’s accounts payable for labor and materials on this construction project totaled approximately $216,923.

The contractor, on November 25, 1958, notified the surety that it was unable to proceed with its contract, and further that it could not meet its obligations to laborers and materialmen. The surety on December 12, 1958, after completing an audit of the contractor’s financial condition, notified the authority that the con[722]*722tractor was in default, and on the same day filed a financing statement in the offices of the Prothonotaries of Fayette and Washington Counties and in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. This financing statement consisted of the application for the bond by the contractor, containing the contractor’s assignment of rights to the surety under the contract. After the default by the contractor, the surety completed the work and the authority has accepted the school building units as of November 19, 1959.

The contractor was a Pennsylvania corporation engaged in building construction work. Its principal place of business was in Brownsville, Fayette County. It did its financing with the intervenor and from time to time borrowed sums of money on the security of accounts receivable. On May 10, 1956, the contractor, for value, executed an assignment of its accounts receivable in the broadest terms, present and future, to secure all indebtedness to the bank, present and future.

The contractor and bank executed and caused to be filed in the prothonotaries’ offices of Washington and Fayette Counties on.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Pa. D. & C.2d 717, 1961 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartford-accident-indemnity-co-v-state-public-school-building-authority-pactcompldauphi-1961.