Murphy v. Guisti
Murphy v. Guisti
Opinion of the Court
Even if this was so, a fault in the petition to the court is amendable. Spencer v. Doherty, 17 R. I. 89.
Thus far the statute, as construed, was plain. Section 5 applied to an original contractor with the owner, and section 6 to a sub-contractor.
Then Pub. Laws, cap. 696 (1888), amended section 5 by adding provisions applying to a lien for materials furnished, *590 “whether the owner purchased the materials or not,” upon giving him the required notice. Thus two classes of liens were introduced into the section, one for work and materials furnished under contract with the owner, and the other for materials funiished either to the owner or to a contractor, and the statute was so construed in Gurney v. Walsham, 16 R. I. 698, provided it appeared that the materials in the latter case were used and furnished to he used in the construction-, etc. Such has been the subsequent view of the statute. Newell v. Campbell, 17 R. I. 74, and several later cases.
Hence in this case the petitioner is hot entitled to a lien for labor, because the petition does not allege that he gave the notice required to be given by a sub-contractor within thirty days from the commencement of his work; but, as it does allege that he gave' the notice required by section 5 within sixty days, it shows a case for materials furnished. The account filed with the petition, therefore, is faulty because it states only the contract price for plumbing furnished to the contractor, including both woi'k and materials, in a lump sum, without specifying the amount due for materials, for which only, as the petition stands, he can claim a lien. It is said that the original notices are objectionable for this reason. While they may not be exact, it does not follow that the proceeding must be dismissed. As stated in Goff v. Hosmer, 20 R. I. 91, the full account is not required to be stated in the notice of intention. “The commencement of process” consists in filing “the account or demand.” In this case there was no account of items, but there was notice of a “demand ” claiming a certain amount to be due for furnishing “materials and labor for plumbing and gas-fitting.”
Evidently “ the-account or demand ” required by section 7 is not so full an account in details as that required by section 9, because the latter says “setting forth the particulars of his account or demand.”
The other objections are covered by what we have already stated, and by Goff v. Hosmer, 20 R. I. 91.
Motion to dismiss is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Maurice J. Murphy vs. Vincenzo Guisti Et Al.
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published