Adams v. City of Modesto
Adams v. City of Modesto
Opinion of the Court
Action to abate a nuisance and for damages. Plaintiffs had judgment, from which, and from the order denying its motion for a new trial, defendant appeals.
Defendant demurred to the complaint for insufficiency of facts, and in the Specifications in support of the motion for new trial it was specified “that there is no evidence that any claim was ever presented to the defendant city for the damage claimed by plaintiffs.” The city of Modesto is a municipal corporation of the sixth class, and comes within the provisions of the act of March 13, 1883 (Stats. 1883, p. 93), subchapter 7, at page 266 et seq. Section 864 provides as follows: “All demands against such city or town shall be presented to and audited by the board of trustees, in accordance with such regulations as they may by ordinance prescribe; and upon the allowance of any such demand the president of the board shall draw a warrant,” etc. Section 878 provides, among other things, that “the clerk shall also keep a book, marked ‘Demands and Warrants,’ in which he shall note every demand against the city or town, and file the same. He shall state therein, under the note of the demands, the final disposition made of the same.....This book shall contain an index, in which reference shall be made to each demand.....He and his deputy shall take all necessary affidavits to demands against the city or town, and certify
Bancroft v. City of San Diego, 120 Cal. 432, 52 Pac. 712, was similar to the present case. The action was for damages caused by grading a street so as to leave plaintiff’s lot in a° hollow several feet below the street. The claim for damages was not presented to the common council before suit. The city charter did not provide that no action should be'brought unless the claim should be first presented. There was no limitation as to the right to sue, and it was claimed that the demand was for damages from a tort. The charter there read: “All claims for damages against the city must be presented to the common council and filed with the clerk within six months after the occurrence from which the damages arose.” It was held that a failure to present a claim is fatal to recovery in an action upon it. The term “demands,” as used in the act of 1883, is certainly broad enough to include “all claims for damages,” which latter are the terms used in the San Diego charter. We are unable to distinguish the present case from the Bancroft case. The term “demands,” therefore, includes damages for torts. Has defendant waived its right to raise the question! The point arises on general demurrer: Thompson v. City of Milwaukee, 69 Wis. 492, 34 N. W. 402; Flieth v. City of Wausau, 93 Wis. 446, 67 N. W. 731. Defendant demurred for insufficiency of facts, and the objection was, therefore, not waived. Whether a failure to demur or to raise the question by answer would be deemed a waiver
We concur: Cooper, C.; Gray, C.
For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the judgment and order are reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ADAMS v. CITY OF MODESTO
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Municipality—Claim for Damages—Demand.—Under act of March 13, 1883, chapter 49, subchapter 7, section 864, providing that all demands against a city or town shall be presented to and audited by the board of trustees in accordance with such regulations as they may prescribe by ordinance, where plaintiff sued defendant city for damages for maintaining a nuisance, Ms failure to make a demand on the city prior to the suit was fatal to Ms cause of action, since the term “demands,” as used in the statute, includes claims for damages for torts as well as on contract. Municipality—Claim for Damages—Demand.—Where plaintiff sued defendant city for damages for maintaining a nuisance, without making a demand prior to the suit, and defendant demurred to the complaint as not stating facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, it did not waive its right to raise the objection of plaintiff’s failure to make a demand, required by act of March 13, 1883, chapter 49, sub-chapter 7, section 864, on appeal. Municipality—Claim for Damages—Presenting and Auditing.— Under act of March 13, 1883, chapter 49, subchapter 7, section 864, providing that all demands against a city shall be presented to and audited by the board of trustees in accordance with such regulations as they may by ordinance prescribe^ where plaintiff sued defendant city for damages, without making a demand prior to the suit, and the petition contained no averment that the city had not passed any ordinance prescribing in what manner such demands should be presented, plaintiff cannot excuse his noncompliance with the statute on the ground of the city’s failure to pass such ordinance.