Stein v. Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Co.

159 A. 683, 10 N.J. Misc. 568, 1932 N.J. Misc. LEXIS 10
CourtHudson County Circuit Court, N.J.
DecidedApril 13, 1932
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 159 A. 683 (Stein v. Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hudson County Circuit Court, N.J. primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stein v. Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Co., 159 A. 683, 10 N.J. Misc. 568, 1932 N.J. Misc. LEXIS 10 (N.J. Ct. App. 1932).

Opinion

Brown, C. C. J.

This matter is before the court on motions of the defendant owners, other than the Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company, and the defendant mortgagees, to strike out the complaints and to discharge and vacate the liens filed by the plaintiffs on the grounds that “the actions were improvidently and illegally filed and instituted contrary to law.” The moving parties also crave oyer of the contract [570]*570mentioned in the complaint; the lease referred to therein and the alleged consents of the owners in writing relied upon by the claimants for the erection of the buildings.

Subsequent to the return day of the motions the plaintiffs moved to amend their complaint by alleging an oral contract entered into wherein the defendants consented to the construction of the buildings and waived the conditions of the lease and consents in writing relied upon by the plaintiffs in the original complaint in so far as they provided that no liens were to be impressed upon the lands and buildings.

Following our modern practice copies of the written instruments were furnished in answer to the demand for the reading of those instruments in response to the oyer craved. The motion to amend the complaint was not granted at the time it was made but the plaintiffs were allowed the opportunity of presenting their form of amendment with affidavits ■to support the allegations therein contained for the purpose of first determining whether the amendments should be allowed. The plaintiff W. W. Farrier Company, filed afEdavits to support the motion to amend and those affidavits were relied upon by some of the defendants to support their proposed amendments. The court does not find in the affidavits thus furnished any proof to support the allegations in the proposed amendments but on the contrary affidavits submitted by the defendants clearly prove that the proposed amendments are sham and therefore the motion to amend the complaints will be denied.

There remains for determination the original motions made by the defendants to strike out the original complaints. In order to determine those motions it is necessary to make reference to the pleadings in the case and the circumstances surrounding the litigation.

The suits arise out of the construction of warehouses on the property located at what is known as the Pennsylvania Terminal in the city of Jersey City. The contract was made in September, 1929, in writing, for the construction of those buildings by the Terminal Warehouses, Incorporated, [571]*571formerly known as the Terminal Development Company, with the defendant Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company, a corporation oí ISTew Jersey, whereby the contracting company agreed to furnish the labor and materials necessary to erect the buildings for the last mentioned company. The complaint and the schedules annexed thereto are to the effect that the contract price for the work and materials was $7,675,270; that extras consisting of alterations and additions resulted in an additional charge of $1,324,732.09, making a total claim of $9,000,002.09. There appears to have been payments made and credits allowed totaling $7,813,592.80, leaving an amount claimed to be due of $1,186,409.29.

The defendants making the motions to strike contend the motions should be allowed for the reasons: (1) that as to the interests of the Pennsylvania Eailroad Company, United Uew Jersey Eailroad and Canal Company and The Associates of the Jersey Company, the buildings were not erected with the consent in writing of such owners as required by the Mechanics’ Lien law; (2) that the motions should prevail as to all the defendants because the building contract as well as the lease from the Pennsylvania Eailroad Company provided that no liens should be filed against the property upon which the buildings were erected.

The fee in the land involved is vested in a corporation known as The Associates of the Jersey Company, which company leased the lands to the United ISTew Jersey Eailroad and Canal Company and this lease was thereafter assigned to the Pennsylvania Eailroad Company. The Pennsylvania Eailroad Company in August, 1929, leased the land described in the complaint to the Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company and The Associates of the Jersey Company and the United ISTew Jersey Eailroad and Canal Company consented in writing to this lease and the buildings were erected by the warehouse company as lessee of the Pennsylvania Eailroad Company under contracts with the Terminal Warehouses, Incorporated.

The interest and estate in the land of the Pennsylvania [572]*572Railroad Company, The Associates of the Jersey Company and the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company cannot be subject to a lien in law unless a consent in writing,, as provided in the Mechanics’ Lien act, is proved. The plaintiffs or claimants rely for those consents upon the provisions-of the lease to the warehouse company. This lease as well as all other leases referred to in the pleadings were duly recorded in the county clerk’s or register’s office where they were required to be recorded by law in order to effect constructive notice to those who might be effected thereby. The-lease between the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company provided for a. rental to be paid as well as other conditions to be performed by the lessee including the provision that—

“The lessee shall pay all costs, expenses and liabilities arising out of or in any way connected with the construction, thereof and shall keep the demised premises and structures-thereon free and clear from any and all liens of mechanics, or materialmen and all liens of a similar character arising-out of or growing out of the construction, repair, alteration, or maintenance of such buildings.”

The lease made by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company is-dated June 30th, 1871. The lessee in that lease, under date of August 23d, 1929, consented in writing to the making of the lease between the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company. The lease between The Associates of the Jersey Company and the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company was made in February, 1877. The lessee of this lease, did, in the month of August, 1929, consent in writing to. the making of the lease between the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and. the Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company.

The agreement between the Pennsylvania Dock & Warehouse Company and the Terminal Development Company was made on September 1st, 1929. By this agreement the-Terminal Development Company agreed to erect and con[573]*573struct the buildings upon the land of the Pennsylvania Bail-road Company which is the subject of this litigation. The buildings were to be constructed in three units, known as 1, 2 and 3, according to drawings and specifications. This agreement provides for the contractors to construct the buildings and provide all materials and labor therefor at its own cost and expense. It is provided in paragraph 13 of the agreement that—

“No lien or claim of a contractor shall be filed against the structures or the premises upon which same are to be erected or any part thereof, and no lien or claim of contractors or subcontractors, mechanics, laborers, materialmen or others shall be filed against the structures or the premises on which the same are to be erected or any part thereof.”

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Bluebook (online)
159 A. 683, 10 N.J. Misc. 568, 1932 N.J. Misc. LEXIS 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stein-v-pennsylvania-dock-warehouse-co-njcircthudson-1932.