Segari v. Mazzei

41 So. 245, 116 La. 1026, 1906 La. LEXIS 621
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedApril 9, 1906
DocketNo. 15,928
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 41 So. 245 (Segari v. Mazzei) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Segari v. Mazzei, 41 So. 245, 116 La. 1026, 1906 La. LEXIS 621 (La. 1906).

Opinion

LAND, J.

Plaintiff made a contract with Frank D. Mazzei, a builder, for the construction of a two-story frame building “on the property belonging to said Segari situated on Park Place near City Park avenue, formerly Metairie Road,” in the Second District of the city of New Orleans.

The iEtna Indemnity Company intervened in the act through its agents, who declared that they have taken cognizance of the foregoing contract and of the plans and specifications and “bind said company as surety for said builder jointly and in solido with him unto said Segari, up to the sum of $6,600, for the prompt, faithful, and correct execution of the foregoing contract, according to its true extent and meaning, for the prompt and faithful payment of the laborers employed upon the work, and of the furnishers of materials used in the construction thereof, and also of the subcontractors, for whatever amount may be due them for work done, labor performed, and supplies and materials furnished to said building.”

At the time the contract was signed, Segari owned certain lots on Park Place. He subsequently purchased- lots on City Park avenue, in the immediate vicinity.

By agreement with Segari, the builder proceeded to construct the house on the last-mentioned lots, but abandoned the job before the building was finished.

After putting the contractor and the indemnity Company in default, Segari finished the building according to the contract, and at a cost of $1,911.53 over and above the balance of the price retained by him, including demurrage.

There were a number of bills of subcontractors and materialmen recorded against the building.

Segari sued Mazzei and the indemnity company to recover the said sum of $1,911.53, and to compel them to pay and discharge the recorded bills aforesaid. Subsequently the subcontractors and materialmen sued Segari, who on the advice of counsel paid their claims, with subrogation. Segari then by amended petition sought to recover judgment against the defendants in solido for the sums so paid. The defense of the indemnity company to the original demand was nonliability, on the ground that the bond covered a building to be erected on a different square of ground from that on which the building was actually constructed.

The indemnity company excepted to the amended petition, on the grounds that it changed.the issues and came too late after evidence had been adduced on the original demand and answer. The exception was overruled, and evidence was adduced on the amended petition, to all which the indemnity company objected and reserved proper bills of exception.

Judgment was rendered in favor of the indemnity company, and plaintiff has appealed.

The amended petition did not change the issue.

Whether the indemnity company paid the recorded claims to the original owners or to plaintiff, as their assignee with subrogations, was immaterial to the issue of liability.

The substance of the demand was not altered. Code Prac. art. 419. The time of the allowance was a matter in the discretion of the trial court. A ruling which causes mere delay in the proceedings is not reviewable on appeal.

The crucial question in the case is whether the indemnity company was relieved from liability by the change in the contract as to the place whereon the building was to be constructed.

It is to be noted that the place is not [1030]*1030otherwise described than “as property belonging to said Segari situated on Park Place near City Park avenue.”

When the contract was signed the plaintiff owned four lots fronting City Park Row.

The house was constructed on two lots in the same square fronting on City Park Boulevard, which plaintiff acquired after the contract was executed.

We assume that the term “Park Place” was used to designate the small subdivision, although no such name appears on the plat filed in the record.

Hence, the contract on its face does not show where the property was located save by reference to “Park Place,” which itself is not identified on any map or plat. It is true that by investigation and inquiry we can ascertain that the parties had in their minds the square or subdivision fronting on City Park Boulevard and the lots belonging to the plaintiff on City Park Row.

But these lots are not described with sufficient certainty to identify them. “Property” is a very vague term and is used in the •contract to indicate ground of some kind belonging to the plaintiff. The record of the act conveyed to third persons no notice of the particular piece of ground in contemplation of the parties.

Under the vague description in the contract, the particular location of the building was not fixed or determined.

On the face of the instrument it does not appear that the particular site of the building was of any importance, as the parties •contented themselves with indicating a subdivision without describing any particular portion thereof. As to the builder and his ■surety, they had no interest in the particular location of the building, provided the plaintiff owned the ground on which it was to be erected.

Plaintiff’s obligation was to furnish the necessary ground in Park Place for the ereetion of the building. Provided plaintiff furnished the site as soon as the contractor was ready to commence work, the latter and his surety had no right to complain.

Counsel for the indemnity company rely on the case of United States v. Boecker, 21 Wall. 652, 22 L. Ed. 472. That case was a suit against a surety on a distiller’s bond, which recited that a certain person was about to be a distiller at the corner of two certain streets, and it was shown that he had established a distillery four squares distant from the place mentioned. A majority of the court decided that the surety was not liable for taxes assessed against the defendant in respect to his business of distilling carried on at a place different from the one nominated in the bond. In the majority opinion, it is stated that the statute required the distiller to give the assessor notice of the place where the business was to be carried on, and that “the designation of the place is made important to the distiller, to his sureties, and to the government in several respects.” The court reached the conclusion that the designation of the place was of the essence of the contract, and that, no distillery having been carried on at the place named in tile bond, the contract never took effect.

The view of the minority, consisting of four justices, was that the designation of the place was no part of the substance of the condition, which was that the distiller was going to engage in the business of distilling in the district, and that the sureties guarantied his compliance with the law.

In Miller v. Stewart, 9 Wall. 681, 6 L. Ed. 189, a deputy collector of taxes gave a bond with surety for eight townships.

There was afterwards another township interlined, making nine in all. The court properly held that this was a change in the contract which released the surety, as it increased his liability.

[1032]*1032In the case at bar, there has been no change in the stipulations of the contract, and the only question for solution is whether the place vaguely designated in the contract as the site of the proposed building is of the substance of the obligation. We do not think so, for the reasons already stated.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
41 So. 245, 116 La. 1026, 1906 La. LEXIS 621, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/segari-v-mazzei-la-1906.