Lerman v. Tilo Roofing Co.

12 Mass. App. Div. 72

This text of 12 Mass. App. Div. 72 (Lerman v. Tilo Roofing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lerman v. Tilo Roofing Co., 12 Mass. App. Div. 72 (Mass. Ct. App. 1947).

Opinion

Eno, J.

By this action of contract the plaintiffs seek to recover damages for the breach of a written agreement for roofing work done oh plaintiffs’ property.

[73]*73The answer is a general denial and payment.

The trial judge made the following findings of facts:

“In this case, I viewed the premises and the subject matter in litigation twice; — once during the trial; and again, after the hearing, and after a severe rainstorm, on June 10, 1946, the parties requesting me to do so.
By request of counsel, the case was re-argued on July 19, 1946, at which time counsel asked that they be given leave to file briefs with me on or about August 1, 1946.
I find as follows:
On June 12, 1944, the parties entered into a written agreement, whereby, in consideration of $1000.00 to be paid by the plaintiffs, as follows: $500.00, on completion of the work, and $500.00 in two equal installments of $250.00 each; the first installment to be paid thirty (30) days after completion, and the last installment in thirty (30) days thereafter, (all payments were represented by two notes of $500.00, each and attached to the said agreement), the defendant agreed to construct or place a roof on building numbered 9 — 15—17 Munroe Street, in the City of Lynn.
The contract also provided that the defendant should ‘ remove gravel and tar down to paper and remove from premises’. ‘Apply six (6) courses; three (3) courses felt, and three (3) of hot asphalt. Install metal edging. Install conductor pipe from porch to metal spout. ’ It further provided that should a leak occur at any time within a period of ten years from ‘date of application, due to defective material, or faulty workmanship, we (meaning the defendant) will repair or replace the roof free of charge;’ and further providing, ‘We (meaning the defendant) do not guarantee against conditions over which we have no control, as for example . . . fire, lighting, hail, cyclone and hurricane . . . the owner, partial owner, or lessee (meaning the plaintiffs) agrees that we (meaning the defendant) shall not be liable for any interior damage’ . . . ‘if for any reason, the company (meaning the defendant) should try to collect the price of the contract for which this guarantee is given, the owner (meaning the plaintiff) hereby agrees that he waives all his rights under the guarantee ’ . . .
[74]*74The defendant completed the work on the roof on August 10, 1944, and was paid $500.00, as specified in the contract; and on the same day, it required, and the plaintiff signed, a memorandum, which read as follows:
‘ Certificate of Completion. I hereby acknowledge that the Tilo Roofing Co., Inc. has furnished the material and completed the work as specified in and in accordance with contract #3344-120 and the premises left in a satisfactory condition. ’
The remaining promissory note of $500.00 was endorsed by the defendant and transferred to the Stratford Credit Corporation, a finance company. Sometime in September and before the 14th day of September, the plaintiffs duly paid the first installment of $250.00 of the said remaining note. During September 14th, and the morning of the 15th, a severe rainstorm, accompanied by an intense hurricane, occurred, and caused the roof to leak badly. The rainwater, which leaked through the roof, damaged valuable merchandise belonging to the plaintiffs, which merchandise was then stored in the upper story of the building.
The plaintiffs promptly reported the facts of the leaking roof, and the damage to their merchandise, to the defendant. Whereupon, the defendant’s employees made some repairs to the roof.
In October, 1944, when the last payment of $250.00 became due, and was demanded of the plaintiffs they refused to pay, on the grounds that the roof was leaking ; and as a result of further complaints by the plaintiffs that the roof was leaking, the defendant’s employees on December 8,1944 did the following work on the roof: 'cement around parapets and penthouse’.
Subsequently, as a result of the plaintiffs ’ refusal to pay the remaining installment of $250.00, the Stratford Credit Corporation sued the plaintiffs on the note; and this action was tried together with the action of Stratford Credit Corporation vs. Lerman, #224 of 1945. At the conclusion of the trial, the plaintiffs, by agreement, fully paid, and settled the claim in the said action #224 of 1945, Stratford Credit Corporation vs. Lerman.
In consequence of further leaks in the roof, in July, 1945, the plaintiffs engaged another roofer, who made [75]*75temporary repairs, by attaching a conductor pipe on the roof; so as to channel the accumulated excess rainwater off the roof. The said roofer testified that the roof in its present condition could not be repaired; that where the sheets of paper are ‘mopped’, the joints are open; that there were only two plys of papers; that the roof needs to be reflashed, at the side adjoining another building; that there are leaks in the roof along side the walls and elevator shaft; that the roof could not be repaired, unless a new roof was built; and that the fair and reasonable charge for his work is $98.50.
I find that the defendant failed to comply with the terms of the contract by not doing the job in a workmanlike manner; that on August 10, 1944, when the plaintiff signed a memorandum called Certificate of Completion, it was not intended that it should exonerate and discharge the defendant from compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract; and that the said memorandum was intended to be a mere acknowledgement, that the work was completed on that day. In accordance with the terms of the contract the defendant is obligated to replace the roof ‘free of charge’. The fair and reasonable cost of replacing the roof is $1000.00. Therefore, I find for the plaintiff in the sum of $1000.00.”

The defendant filed the following requests for rulings, to which are added the trial judge’s disposition of them:

1. That the terms of the written contract and guaranty in this case govern and define the claim of the plaintiffs in this action. Given

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Bluebook (online)
12 Mass. App. Div. 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lerman-v-tilo-roofing-co-massdistctapp-1947.