Pittman-Berger Co. v. Parkinson

180 A. 645, 37 Del. 105, 7 W.W. Harr. 105, 1935 Del. LEXIS 31
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedAugust 21, 1935
DocketSci fa sur Mechanics Lien, No. 89
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 180 A. 645 (Pittman-Berger Co. v. Parkinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pittman-Berger Co. v. Parkinson, 180 A. 645, 37 Del. 105, 7 W.W. Harr. 105, 1935 Del. LEXIS 31 (Del. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

Reinhardt, J.,

delivering the opinion of the Court:

In the introductory part of the statement of claim the claimant alleges that it supplied material and labor under a contract with D. M. Fontana & Sons, Inc., a corporation of the State of Delaware, General Contractors, “agents of the owner” for the erection of a dwelling house, etc. It is contended on the part of the defendant that the use of the words “agents of the owner” is for the purpose of the mechanics’ lien law (29 Del. Laws, c. 225) the same as if the contract had been made by the owner direct. And that the plaintiff, therefore having furnished both labor and material, and contracted to do so with the agent of the owner, may not file its statement of claim until after the expiration of 90 days from the date of delivery of the last of the materials or labor. The claim was filed within 90 days of said date of last delivery.

Nowhere in the statement of claim except in the introductory part thereof is it alleged that D. M. Fontana & Sons, Inc., were “agents of the owner.”

In paragraph 1 of said statement it is definitely and specifically alleged that the contract of claimant was made with D. M. Fontana & Sons, Inc.

In paragraph 2 of said statement it is also alleged that the contract of claimant was with D.- M. Fontana & Sons, Inc.

[108]*108And finally, the heading of the bills of particulars attached to the statement of claim shows that the labor and materials supplied under the contract were “Sold to D. M. Fontana & Sons, Inc.”

I am of the opinion that the words “agents of the owner” as used in the introductory part of the statement of claim cannot control the definite and specific allegations as to the parties to the contract found in later paragraphs of the statement of claim and bill of particulars. The statement, therefore, was properly filed within 90 days of the date of last delivery of labor and materials.

The second exception alleges that the time when the supplying of the materials and labor is alleged to have been begun, is not stated with exactitude whereby the date of the commencement of the lien does not appear from the record.

Paragraph 3 of the statement sets forth: “That the time when the supplying of said material and labor began was ‘on or about’ the twenty-second day of August, A. D. 1934.” It is contended that the use of the words “on or about the twenty-second day of August” renders the date uncertain.

The Mechanics’ Lien Statute, found in Volume 29, Page 726, of the Laws of Delaware, provides that the statement of claim shall contain and set forth, inter alla, the following:

“Third. The time when the said work and labor or the furnishing of said materials was commenced and finished. * * * Sixth. Any judgment obtained upon such claim, as hereinafter provided, shall become a lien upon such building * * * and shall relate back to the day upon which said work and labor was begun, or the furnishing of said material was commenced.”

In the case of Dominelli v. Markowski, 2 W. W. Harr. (32 Del.) 595, 128 A. 527, this Court held that the words [109]*109“on or about the eleventh day of September. 1924” did not constitute an allegation of a definite time.

I am therefore of the opinion that the words “on or about the twenty-second day of August” do not constitute an allegation of a definite time and therefore are not a proper compliance with the statute in that respect. The statement of claim must be held bad unless we may look to the bill of particulars attached to the statement of claim to supply the insufficient allegation as to the time of delivery.

When the bill of particulars is examined it is found that the date of delivery of the first material is set forth definitely as August 22d, 1934.

I am of the opinion that a bill of particulars is a part of the statement of claim, to the extent that it must relate thereto and be construed with reference to it.

In the case of Johnston v. Harrington, 5 Wash. 73, 31 P. 316, 319, the Court said:

“When the time when the materials were furnished is required to be stated, ‘if the times when the work was done or the materials furnished can be deducted from the claim and bill of particulars as filed, looking at them together, it is sufficient.’ ”

In the case of St. Paul & M. Pressed Brick Co. v. Stout, 45 Minn. 327, 47 N. W. 974, 975, the Court said:

“If, then, it appeared from the affidavit herein that these materials, 108,000 brick, were furnished at the time specified in the attached account, although not so stated in the words found in the form, the statute has been substantially complied with.”

In the case of Garlichs v. Donnelly, 42 Neb. 57, 60 N.W. 323, 325, the Court said:

“The account attached to the affidavit was itemized, and from the [110]*110itemized statement the first and last date are easily obtainable. It was therefore unnecessary that there should be a general statement in addition, giving the date of the commencement and of the completion of the work.”

In the leading case of Knabb’s Appeal, 10 Pa. 186, 51 Am. Dec. 472, the Court said:

“Of the remaining exceptions of this class, it is to be premised that the statement and bill annexed to it are to be taken as constituting what, by the Act of the Assembly, is called the ‘claim’ of the plaintiff. Of this there cannot be a moment’s question, where the appended bill is specially referred to by his statement. * * * Here the bill or account annexed by Davis & Whitaker to their statement, obviously forms part of it. * * * It must, on the grounds stated, be so accepted by us. Thus esteemed and treated, these claims satisfy every rule. They give the amount of the debts claimed by the material-men; the nature and amount of the materials furnished and labour performed; the building for which, and the time when, they were furnished and done.”

In the case of Great Southern Hotel Co. v. Jones (C. C. A.), 116 F. 793, 796, the Court said:

“We shall see also that this affidavit avers that the statement ‘is a true and correct itemized statement of the amount and value of the labor performed and materials furnished in pursuance of said contract.’ To refuse an interpretation of this ‘itemized statement’ in the light of the other parts of the same affidavit would be to apply a different rule of construction to such a claim for lien from that applicable to every other kind of written document. The object in requiring the affidavit to include a copy of the written contract and an itemized statement of the labor performed is to give notice to all concerned of the claim and the basis upon which it stands.”

In the case of Wilvert v. Sunbury Borough, *81 Pa. 57, 63, the Court said:

“There is no merit in the first assignment. The particulars of the labor and materials for which the lien is claimed, the names of the actual or reputed owners, as also of the occupiers of the premises sought to be charged, are set forth in the statement filed, and nothing more is required by the act.

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Bluebook (online)
180 A. 645, 37 Del. 105, 7 W.W. Harr. 105, 1935 Del. LEXIS 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pittman-berger-co-v-parkinson-delsuperct-1935.