Youngberg v. El Paso Brick Company
Youngberg v. El Paso Brick Company
Opinion of the Court
This' suit was instituted by the El Paso Brick Company, a corporation, against A. J. Rose and O. M. *716 Youngberg and the First National Bank of Pecos, Tex. Plaintiff alleged that it had sold to defendant Rose the brick for the construction of a school building at the town of Pecos, and that on June 23, 1911, there remained due and unpaid the sum of $1,723.87; that Rose on or about June 23, 1911, gave to plaintiff an assignment of the said amount in the hands of the said Youngberg; made the First National Bank of Pecos, Tex., a party because it was claiming an interest in the fund. A. J. Rose made default. Youngberg answered by general denial, and especially denied that he was indebted to the said Rose in any sum whatsoever at the time the assignment was made. He alleged that he had a contract with the said Rose, whereby he was to build a part of the Pecos school building for the sum of $6,760, and that he paid the said Rose $5,103.90, which was in full for all the work completed; that Rose abandoned his contract, and that he (Young-berg) was compelled to complete the work at a cost of $871.21, which left in his hands $874.89 which sum he was liable to pay Rose or such person as he might designate; that on June 30, 1911, he was served by a writ of garnishment, and a judgment was entered against him in favor of the First National Bank of Pecos for the sum of $674.90, which he paid; that said bank had am assignment of $300 of the money Youngberg might owe Rose, which was made prior to the assignment of the El Paso Brick Company or the Pruett Lumber Company ; and further pleaded that -the First National Bank of Pecos, Tex., knew that the Brick Company was setting up- a claim to the balance that he might have after completing said building, and by parol agreement bound itself to indemnify and hold him harmless from the claims of the Brick Company under their assignment from Rose; that after completing the building he had on hand $930.83, less the amount paid the bank of Pecos, $674.90; that the Pruett Lumber Company of Pecos sets up a claim to the money and material left over, to wit, $267.-37 and has brought suit therefor in county court of this county; that Otis Reid claims $125.84 of the fund, and has brought suit, and has his writ of garnishment from the justice court of this county; that the Zim-mer Hardware & Implement Company of Pecos claims $123.30 of the fund, and has filed suit in the justice court of El Paso county; that the El Paso Brick Company claims $1,723.87, as shown by its petition herein; that the said Rose failed and refused to complete the work under his contract, and that by reason of his failure became liable to pay this defendant $5 per day after June 1, 1911, for each day that the work should remain incomplete; that said work remained incomplete 35 days after it should have been completed, for which he became liable to this defendant in the sum of $175; that he (Younberg) was compelled to and did finish the said work-; that of the $255.93 and two pieces of steel now in his hands he claims $175, and tenders into court $80.93, and prays citation for all the parties named; and further prays that, if the' plaintiff El Paso Brick Company shall recover judgment against him for more than the $255.93 and the value of two pieces of steel, then he asks judgment over against the First National Bank of Pecos, Tex., for the excess so recovered under the aforesaid contract of indemnity.
The Pruett .Lumber Company, Zimmer Hardware Company, and Otis Reid answered that they have judgments in courts of competent jurisdiction and valid writs of garnishment for the sums' by each respectively claimed. And the Pruett Lumber Company further pleads that on June 23, 1911, the said A. J. Rose, in consideration of the indebtedness due it by writing, duly signed, addressed to C. M. Youngberg, assigned the amount of its claim in the hands of the said Youngberg, The defendant First National Bank of Pecos filed plea of special privilege to be sued in the county of its residence, to wit, Reeves county, and further answered that it had an assignment from said Rose for the sum of $500 of the funds in the hands of the said Youngberg; that it took judgment for said sum against defendant Youngberg as. garnishee, and same had been paid, therefore it has no claim against any fund due by said Young-berg to the said Rose; pleaded general denial, and that it was entitled to the funds so collected by it under the judgment because of the fact that Rose assigned the said sums by oral agreement in the hands of Youngberg, and that it is entitled to said moneys by reason of priority of assignment; and further pleaded that, if any agreement to indemnify Youngberg was made, it was without authority to bind the bank.
The defendant Youngberg granted a jury, court instructed a verdict, and defendant Youngberg appeals.
Statement under first assignment of error: “The purported order or assignment given the El Paso Brick Company, contained nothing mandatory or unequivocal; it merely authorized Mr. Youngberg to pay $1,723.87 to the El Paso Brick Company out of money due Youngberg. And Mr. Youngberg, as shown by the pleading of the El Paso Brick Company, did not accept or act under this authority.” The proposition urged by defendant Youngberg is that the writing charged to be an assignment of the “moneys due” is a mere permission or authority to pay, and was not mandatory, and therefore created no obligation. The defendant Youngberg contracted to construct a certain school building in the town of Pecos, Reeves county, Tex., and the defendant A. J. Rosé was a subcontractor under Youngberg, and as such purchased brick from the plaintiff Brick Company, and for which at the time this cause was tried he owed a balance of $1,723.87*. Rose did not finish the work he contracted to do, but by subsequent agreement turned it over to Youngberg to be finished. During the time that he, Rose, was working, pursuant to his contract, he gave to the El Paso Brick Company the writing copied in the above assignment of error, which appellant contends is not an absolute transfer of the moneys due and to become due; and in his fourth and sixth assignments of error contends that it was not an assignment of money to become due, but, if anything, only an assignment of such as was due at the date of the writing, and therefore imposed the burden on-Youngberg of ascertaining the amount intended to be assigned. Under Beaumont Lumber Company v. Moore, 41 S. W. 180, this order was given with reference to a particular fund, partly then existing, and to arise in the future as the work on the building progressed, and was the subject-matter of equitable assignment; and it is not necessary that the assignment be accepted. The last quotation from Beaumont Lumber Company v. Moore, supra, disposes of the fifth assignment of error. Harris County v. Campbell, 68 Tex. 22, 3 S. W. 243, 2 Am. St. Rep. 467.
The third assignment of error is as follows: “The court erred in peremptorily instructing the jury to find for the El Paso Brick Company for $650.91, and the Pruett Lumber Company for $104.87, because there was evidence to show that previous to the purported assignments held by plaintiff and the Pruett Lumber Company Rose had assigned $500 of the money sued for by plaintiff, and the Pruett Lumber Company, to the first National Bank of Pecos, and the issue as to which of these assignments was prior should have been submitted to the jury.” Having determined that the evidence adduced does not constitute an assignment to the bank, as the plaintiff is not complaining that the court gave the Pruett Lumber Company judgment, the defendant Youngberg, having admitted the assignment to the Lumber Company, cannot complain.
We therefore find that the court did not err in instructing a verdict.
There, being no error apparent upon the record, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- YOUNGBERG v. EL PASO BRICK COMPANY Et Al.
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- 9 cases
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- Published