Vetter v. Meadville
Vetter v. Meadville
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff’s statement of claim discloses no cause of action; it is lacking in an essential feature. The suit was brought for and on behalf of the use plaintiff to recover from the city of Meadville a portion of the contract price for which the legal plaintiff, Vetter, had undertaken to grade, curb and pave a portion of a certain street in the city, and which amount it was averred Vetter had assigned to the use plaintiff. The assignment declared on, it will be observed, was but a partial one. The right of recovery therefore, other things being sufficient, depended on whether the city of Meadville had assented to it. Jermyn v. Moffitt, 75 Pa. 399; Philadelphia’s Appeals, 86 Pa. 179; Geist’s App., 104 Pa. 351. The averment is that “on or about May 2,1907, George J. Vetter made and signed an order upon the city of Meadville, or its city treasurer, Charles H. Schmidt, authorizing and directing him to retain money due said contractor, and pay the same to the Pittsburgh-Buffalo Company 85 per cent. as shown by its statement of account rendered;...... that the said city treasurer accepted said order and agreed to retain the said money and pay the same to the said use plaintiff, the Pittsburgh-Buffalo Company, as shown by the assignment, order or acceptance, copy of which assignment, order and acceptance is hereto attached.” The assignment, more properly speaking, the order, signed by Vetter, was directed to the city treasurer, and it simply authorized and directed him to retain from money due or to become due under his contract, and pay same to the order of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo. Company as set out in the averment for repressed block furnished on Vetter’s order. The entry on the order by the city treasurer was as follows: “I
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Vetter to use v. Meadville
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Assignment — Partial assignment of debt — Acceptance by debtor —Municipalities—City treasurer — Authority — Power of city treasurer — Burden of proof. No suit can be maintained on a partial assignment of a debt unless it appears that the debtor assented to the assignment. An assignment by a city contractor of a portion of his claim against the city, and the assent to the assignment by the city treasurer, cannot be made a basis of an action against the city, unless it appears by the plaintiff’s case that the city treasurer had authority to assent to the assignment on behalf of the city. No such authority is implied from his office.