Driscoll v. Hill
Driscoll v. Hill
Opinion of the Court
The contract under which a lien is now claimed was for materials to be furnished and labor to be performed by the plaintiff on land which at the date of the contract belonged to the defendant Hill, who alone appears to defend this action. The materials which the plaintiff was to supply consisted of powder with which stones were to be blasted, and mortar and cement with which the stones in cellars were to be laid and pointed. For these no lien is claimed, there having been no notice given to the defendant, according to Gen. Sts. c. 150, § 2. The sole question is, whether the plaintiff has established a lien for labor.
Passing over various grave objections urged in behalf of the defendant to the validity of the lien, we are of opinion that the plaintiff fails in showing that he took the essential preliminary step of filing a just and true account of the amount due to him for labor in the office of the clerk of the town where the land is situated, in compliance with the provisions contained in Gen. Sts. c. 150, § 5. The statement which the plaintiff left with the town clerk is fatally defective. It does not show how much is due to the plaintiff for labor only. It is conceded that most of the items set forth in the statement embrace the sums due for materials as well as labor, and do not of themselves show how much was due for either separately. If this difficulty could be surmounted by evidence, such as was offered at the trial, to show by estimates, approximately, the amount which would be due for labor, the defect in the statement would not be cured. On the question of the admissibility of such evidence we give no opinion. The case differs from Morrison v. Minot, 5 Allen, 403, and Graves v. Bemis, 8 Allen, 573. In those cases the contract was entire, and the sum to be paid was a round sum for labor and materials, with no stipulation for a separate price for either. But in the case at bar, for a portion of the labor to be performed under the contract, that is, for excavation of the cellars, a separate price was agreed to be paid. But the difficulty still remains, that it is impossible to ascertain, from the statement or
Petition dismissed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- James Driscoll v. William H. Hill
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published