Christianson v. Hughes
Christianson v. Hughes
Opinion of the Court
This case, which was brought for the foreclosure of a mechanic’s lien, is in this court for trial de novo. The complaint alleges that the defendant is the owner of the premises against which the plaintiff seeks to establish a lien, and also the making of the contract, on May 15, 1906, with one D. E. Hughes, the hus
The plaintiff established at the trial that he sold to D. E. Hughes paint, oil, white lead, and other material used in painting the said dwelling house, and states the circumstances as follows: D. E. Hughes on or about May 15, 1906, came into the store of plaintiff and said: “Lars, I want to get some paint to paint my house, and as soon as I get through, I will come in and give you a check for it.” The plaintiff further testified that D. E. Hughes at one time was running a wagon shop in Fargo, and that he purchased from plaintiff paints and varnishes for painting buggies, also paint the year before to prime his house, and that he paid for them. The testimony further shows that $10 worth of the paint was sufficient to paint the house one coat; that D. E. Hughes was sent to the insane asylum on the 22d day of June, 1906; that after his incarceration in the asylum the defendant got Mr. Nelson, a painter in Fargo, to paint the house one coat, and that the paint then used cost less than $9. This last-mentioned painting was necessary, on account of the condition of the building after the painting done by D. E. Hughes with the materials he purchased from plaintiff. The plaintiff does not claim to have ever had any conversation, understanding or agreement with defendant on the subject. He relies
Section 6237, Rev. Codes 1905, is as follows: “Any person who shall perform any labor upon or furnish any materials, machinery or fixtures for the construction or repair of any work of internal improvement or for the erecting, alteration or repair of any buildings or other structures upon land, or in making any other improvements thereon, including fences, sidewalks, paving, wells, trees, grades, drains or excavations under a contract with the owner of such land, his agent, trustee, 'contractor or subcontractor, or with the consent of such owner, shall upon complying with the provisions of this chapter have * * * a lien upon such building, erection or improvement and upon the land belonging to such owner. * * * The owner shall be presumed to have consented to the doing of any such labor or making of any-such improvement, if at the time he had knowledge thereof, and did not give notice of his objection thereto to the person entitled to the lien.” The case must turn largely upon the construction to be placed upon said section 6237 of the Revised Codes of 1905. It is not claimed, on the part of the plaintiff, that he had at any time, either directly or indirectly, any contractual relation with the defendant, or that her husband was either the agent, trustee, contractor or subcontractor of the defendant. He admits that his contract was with D. E. Hughes, the husband of the defendant alone. He claims, however, that the defendant, having had actual knowledge that the improve-
In Wheaton v. Berg, 50 Minn. 525, 52 N. W. 926, the defendant Nilson sold a vacant lot to defendant Berg, the purchase price to be paid within 90 days. The sale contract did not provide for the erection of a building, but provided tíiat in case of non-performance by the vendee “all the improvements on said premises or which may be made thereon” should become the property of the vendor. Berg erected a house upon the premises. It was found as a fact by the court -that he purchased the lot for that purpose, and that Nilson knew this when he contracted to sell; that he knew that the house was being constructed from the time when the building -operations were commenced, and that he never made any -objections thereto. Neither did he post any notice on the premises, as -required-by said section 3509 hereinbefore quoted. Held, that the parties who performed labor on said dwelling house, or furnished material therefor, were entitled to liens on the premises. In Harlan et al., v. Stuffiebeem et al., 87 Cal. 508, 25 Pac. 686, the court found that the owners of th'e land -knew, at the time -of the construction of the buildings, and of all the terms and conditions of the contract between Stufflebeem and the plaintiffs at the time it was made, and also that on the completion of the work, he had made a payment to the plaintiffs on account thereof. The other cases cited by plaintiff hold that, where the owner of the land has knowledge of, and consents to the
Plaintiff does not claim that defendant had any knowledge that he was furnishing materials which were used on her house. He relies solely upon the fact of her -knowledge that the house was being painted, her knowledge of the improvements, as sufficient to charge her with the duty of actertaining the further fact that plaintiff was furnishing materials, for such improvements, and giving him notice of her objection thereto. This we do not think is the correct -construction of said section 6237. If it is, D. E. Hughes could have procured the materials from several different persons, or could have had them shipped from a foreign state, and the defendant would have had to hunt up the different parties supplying the materials, or, if they were shipped from a foreign state, find out who shipped them, and give the proper party notice that she objected to the making of the improvement. Such we do not think was the intention of the Legislature in passing the law. In the case at bar the defendant never consented to the improvement being made, or to the furnishing of the materials therefor by plaintiff, or any other person. She objected to the improvements; her husband was not her agent; the -contract was not made by her, or in her behalf, and she agreed to none of the -terms, conditions, or agreements thereof. She believed her husband to be, and he was in fact, financially able to pay for the materials, and had in fac-t bought paint from plaintiff for a number of years, and always paid for it. She did nothing to mislead the plaintiff. If her husband could be allowed' to incumber the estate of the defendant, against her will and protest, such rights in her separate property granted to her by law would foe of little value, and the husband could readily, and in this manner, contract her estate away, and bring her to financial ruin. Under the -circumstances, in this case to all-o-w a lien, and thus permit her to be stripped of the title to her estate, and possibly deprive her of a shelter for herself and family, would be contrary to equity and subversive of that protection which the law intended should be thrown around her separate estate.
We do not think it necessary to pass upon the contention -of appellant that the presumption mentioned in said section 6237 is a rebuttable one, as it has not application to the facts in this case. We
Section 3314 of the Statutes of (Wisconsin of 1898, as far as material here, reads as follows: “Shall also attach to and be a lien upon the real property of any person on whose premises such improvements are made, such owner having knowledge thereof and consenting thereto.” Section 3314, supra, is nearer like section 6237 of the Revised Codes of 1905 than the mechanic’s lien statutes of any of the states in which the cases cited by respondent were decided. We believe that no case can be found in which a lien was upheld under facts similar to those in the case at bar. In most of the cases cited by respondent the owner not only had knowledge of the facts, but expressly consented to the improvements being made. North v. La Flesh, 73 Wis. 520, 41 N. W. 633; Lumber Co. v. Mosher, 88 Wis. 672, 60 N. W. 264. In the following cases it has been held that a party performing labor or furnishing material for improvements on land, under a contract with a person not the owner, was not entitled to a lien: Coorsen v. Ziehl, 103 Wis. 381, 79 N. W. 562; Huntly v. Holt, 58 Conn. 445, 20 Atl. 469, 9 L. R. A. 111; De Klyn v. Gould, 165 N. Y. 287, 59 N. E. 95, 80 Am. St. Rep. 719.
In Coorsen v. Ziehl, supra, the court, speaking through Justice Bardeen, said: “The proof is that she (the wife) was not consulted before the contracts were made, and that she did not in any way sanction or direct the work as it progressed. She lived in the building with her husband, and undoubtedly knew of the work as it progressed, and from these facts it is argued that she is brought within the terms of section 3314.” He then cites cases relied upon by counsel for the plaintiff, and continues: “But there is a clear distinction between these cases and the case at bar. In each case
The trial court will reverse its judgment, and enter judgment dismissing the complaint herein.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring specially). I concur in the reversal but not for the reasons given by my Associates. They work a judicial repeal of the statute applicable, to which I cannot assent.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lars Christianson, Doing Business as Christianson Drug Company v. Kate Hughes
- Cited By
- 1 case
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- Published