Turk v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.

277 Ill. App. 267, 1934 Ill. App. LEXIS 120
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 20, 1934
DocketGen. No. 36,670
StatusPublished

This text of 277 Ill. App. 267 (Turk v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turk v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 277 Ill. App. 267, 1934 Ill. App. LEXIS 120 (Ill. Ct. App. 1934).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Hall

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the superior court of Cook county sustaining a demurrer to the second amended declaration of defendant filed in a suit on a bond given by defendant to plaintiff, conditioned upon the faithful performance of a building remodeling contract in writing, entered into between the plaintiff and one A. E. Bjork.

By this agreement, Bjork agreed to furnish all labor and materials necessary to move back and reset a building of plaintiff at 725 North Western avenue, Chicago, for the agreed price of $6,700. The moving and resetting’ was made necessary by the widening of the street named. The contract between plaintiff and Bjork, which is set forth in the declaration, contains detailed specifications as to the manner in which the work to be performed should be done, and the terms of payment are provided for as follows:

“$1,000.00 to be paid when rear of building has been excavated 2' 0", necessary new footings built in rear preparatory to the moving, and the necessary holes cut for loading of building.

“$3,000.00 to be paid when building has been moved to new location and money shall have been received from the City of Chicago, under the award.

“$1,000.00 to be paid when sewer, water and plumbing has been taken care of and building bricked back.

“$1,700 to be paid within ten (10) days after the contract has been fully completed and waivers of lien executed and delivered.”

The contract between plaintiff and Bjork also contains the following:

“It is further stipulated between the parties that in case the party of the second part shall commit any breach of the covenants or agreements in the contract, specifications and plans, party of the first part shall have the right to terminate the contract, and engage another contractor to complete the job, and the party of the second part is to he liable for any and all damages and such daonages are to he deducted'from part of the contract price that should remain due party of the second part.

“It is further agreed by and between 'the parties that the work upon said job is to be commenced on the 9th day of July, 1930, and is to be finished not later than the 17th day of September, 1930, and for each day that it shall take said party of the second part after the 17th day of September, 1930, to complete the job, said party of the second part shall pay as liquidated damages to said party of the first part, the sum of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per day. Allowances shall be made to the contractor for time lost by reason of strikes, act of God, or the public enemy, lightning, earthquake, cyclone or rainstorms, or for causes beyond the control of the contractor. ’ ’

The conditions of the bond upon which defendant is sued, are as follows:

“The condition of this obligation is such that if the said principal shall well and truly perform and fulfill all and every the covenants, conditions, stipulations and agreements in said contract mentioned to be performed and fulfilled, and shall keep the said obligee harmless and indemnified from and against all and every claim, demand, judgment, lien, cost and fee of every description, incurred in suits or otherwise against the said obligee, growing out of or incurred in, the prosecution of said work according to the terms of the said contract, and shall repay the said obligee all sums of money which the said obligee may pay to other persons on account of work and labor done or materials furnished on or for said contract, and if the said principal shall pay to the said obligee all damages or forfeitures which may be sustained by reason of the nonperformance or malperformance on the part of the said principal of any of the covenants, conditions and stipulations and agreements of said contract, then this obligation shall be void; otherwise, the same shall remain in full force and virtue.”

The declaration contains the statement that “Bjork was unable to complete the work by him assumed to be performed in the said contract by the 17th of September, 1930, and that on request of the said Bjork, the plaintiff gave the said Bjork an extension of time for the period of 15 days to and including the 2nd day of October, 1930, within which to complete the said work,” and that defendant, by the instrument in writing, consented to the granting of the extension.

It is alleged that on or about the 1st of September, 1930, plaintiff was informed by Bjork that the rear of the building had been excavated to 2' 0", that where necessary, new footings had been built in the rear preparatory to moving the building and that the necessary holes had been cut for the loading of the building, and from the fact that he, plaintiff, could not, on an examination of the premises, discover the truth of the representations made by Bjork, and relying* upon Bjork’s representations, paid him $1,000, but that since making such payment, he, plaintiff, had discovered that the work alleged to have been done as above set forth had not been accomplished in a first class workmanlike fashion. It is further alleged that on the 20th of September, 1930, plaintiff, being informed by Bjork that the building had been moved to its new location in accordance with the specifications and contract, and from the fact that he, plaintiff, could not from an examination, discover the truth of Bjork’s representations, paid Bjork the sum of $3,000, and alleges that since such payment, he had learned that the work in connection with moving the building to its new location was inefficiently and unskillfully ' done, that the building will have to be moved back to its old location and the foundation refinished before the building can safely be permanently moved to its new location. It is also alleged that on the 8th day of October, 1930, relying upon the statement of Bjork that the building had been bricked back in accordance with the specifications in the contract, that sewer, water and plumbing had been properly taken care of, plaintiff paid the sum of $1,000 on account of the work done, and alleges that he, plaintiff, could not, from an examination of the premises, discover the truth of the representations made by Bjork, but that he has since learned that the building was not bricked back, and that the sewer, water and plumbing had not been taken care of in accordance with the specifications, but that leaky and defective pipes were used, and in other ways, the specifications of the contract were not lived up to. The entire amount paid by plaintiff to Bjork was $5,000.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ryan v. Trustees of Shawneetown
14 Ill. 20 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1852)
Finney v. Condon
86 Ill. 78 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1877)
Illinois Surety Co. v. Munro
124 N.E. 528 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1919)
Castle v. Powell
261 Ill. App. 132 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
277 Ill. App. 267, 1934 Ill. App. LEXIS 120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turk-v-united-states-fidelity-guaranty-co-illappct-1934.