Hall & Paulson Furniture Co. v. Schmidt
Hall & Paulson Furniture Co. v. Schmidt
Opinion of the Court
This was an action on a bond furnished by defendant Schmidt in a certain action of unlawful detainer, in which the appellant was plaintiff and Schmidt was defendant. Respondents were sureties on the bond. Separate demurrers were tiled to the complaint, and sustained by the court. Appellant elected to stand on its complaint; whereupon the court rendered judgment in favor of the respondents, respectively, for their costs and disbursements. The errors alleged are the sustaining of respondents’ demurrers and the rendering of judgment thereon.
The complaint shows that on February 10, 1891, appellant brought an action, No. 10257, in the superior court against the defendant Schmidt for the recovery of the possession of certain premises in King county, and also for the recovery of the sum of $220 as rent for said premises. That subsequent pleadings were filed by the parties and issues duly made, and that a writ of restitution was granted and issued to the appellant. That on July 15, 1891, defendant was granted leave by the superior court to retain possession of the premises upon filing a bond in the sum of 81,000, with satisfactory sureties; that said Schmidt on July 2é, 1891, filed a bond with the clerk, and the execution of the writ of restitution was thereupon stayed. That on November 21, 1891, the superior court ordered that the bond of defendant Schmidt be increased to $1,600. That on November 27, 1891, said Schmidt as principal, and the respondents as sureties, pursuant to said order of the court, jointly and severally executed and filed a bond in the penal sum of $1,600, conditioned to pay plaintiff such sum of money as plaintiff might recover for the use and occupation of the said demised premises described in the complaint, or any rent due, together with all damages that plaintiff might
The complaint further showed that on September '29, 1892, the supreme court of the State of Washington having decided said appealed case of Hall & Paulson Furniture Co. v. Wilbur in favor of the plaintiff, and in favor of the right of the plaintiff to lease said demised premises
The pertinent question here is, what effect had the stipulation set forth in the complaint on the rights of the sureties (
No question is raised as to the regularity of the proceedings in the original action prior to the filing of the stipulation therein. It is claimed by the appellant that judgment against the principal is conclusive against the sureties unless collusion or fraud is alleged and proven; that without said allegation and proof the sureties can question neither the validity nor the amount of said judgment. This contention seems to be sustained by Tracy v. Goodwin, 5 Allen, 409, and by the cases cited by 2 Brandt on Surety-ship, § 632.
But it seems to us that it is not necessary to go to this extent to sustain appellant’s contention that the sureties in this case should not be discharged. It is conceded by appellant that the liability of a surety is not to be extended beyond the terms of his contract, and that the liability
This latter case is as near the case at bar as any one particular case is likely to be like another. There it was held that the mere postponement of one of the ordinary proceedings in a case in which an undertaking had been given did not release the sureties. There an order of arrest was issued; defendant was arrested and on giving an undertaking as prescribed was discharged; he answered, denying the alleged false pretenses. Thereafter the parties entered into a written stipulation by which defendant withdrew" his answer; plaintiff agreeing not to enter judgment before a day specified, and in case defendant paid the debt in installments, as stated, then that the action should be discontinued. In case defendant made default, and plaintiff entered judgment, it was stipulated that he should have the same right to enforce the judgment as if it had been entered on a verdict in plaintiff’s favor. The stipulation contained a clause to the .effect that, while defendant recognizes his full liability for the debt, he ‘ ‘ disclaims any admission of the truth of the allegations of fraud, ’ ’ and enters into the stipulation solely to provide security for the payment as stipulated, and to provide a remedy in case of default. Subsequently defendant, by another stipulation, waived notice of application for judgment, and consented that judgment might be entered for the amount demanded in the complaint. Both stipulations were entered into without
* ‘ AVe do not think that a mere postponement of one of the ordinary proceedings in a case in which an undertaking has been given releases the sureties from liability. The rule contended for by the appellants would lead to the discharge of sureties on undertakings and legal proceedings in nearly all cases where the postponement of the day of judgment was had by consent of the parties to the action. ’'
And so in this case, the stipulation here did not in any sense enlarge the liabilities of the sureties, and did not go further than the authority of the principals to stipulate for a continuance. It has never been held, and never can be held, in the interest of the orderly transaction of suits, that the principals to a suit cannot stipulate for a continuance of the cause from time to time, or from term to term, as may best suit their convenience, without consulting and obtaining the consent of the sureties.
It is not difficult to conclude from the allegations of the complaint that this stipulation was entered into for the benefit of both parties and to save the incurring of unnecessary costs, and the result shows that the principal, for ■whose obligations the sureties were bound, was saved a large amount of costs and disbursements by reason of the stipulation.
In Conner v. Reeves, supra, the court holds that, as a general rule, in an action upon a bond of indemnity against judgments, the sureties thereon are concluded, by the judgment recovered against the obligee, from questioning, except for fraudulent collusion for the purpose of charging the sureties, the existence or extent of his liability in the
In that case the court very well said:
“Can it be affirmed, as a matter of law, that the conditions of the bond only covered judgments obtained upon hostile and adverse litigation, and that no discretion was left in the sheriff to consent to a judgment, although he believed that by so doing money would be saved to the parties ultimately liableThis, we think, would be a too strict interpretation of the contract. ’ ’
The judgment in this case was rendered by the same court in which the action was commenced and is in no way analogous to the cases cited by the respondents where, after the commencement of an action and bond given, the principals submitted their case to arbitration and judgment was rendered by another court.
We have examined all the cases cited by respondents, and none of them sustain their position. Murfree on Official Bonds, §155, states the proposition that “a surety is released by the privity of the obligee to the breach óf the bond, or by the interference of the beneficiary which causes a breach of the bond.” This proposition no doubt is correct, but there are no cases cited under it which would sustain the theory that the circumstances as set up in this complaint would amount to a breach of the bond, or an interference of the beneficiary which causes a breach of the bond. In Niblo v. Glark, 3 Wend. 24, it was held that a license or permission by a plaintiff to a defendant to depart the state, and an agreement that all proceedings on the judgment against him shall be stayed until his return, may be pleaded in bar to an action against the bail, on the
And so with all the other cases cited by respondents in both briefs. They sustain the general propositions that the liability of a surety is to be construed strictly and cannot be varied or enlarged by judicial construction; or that the plaintiff has no right to stay the execution after its levy on property of the principal until the lien is lost, or to grant to the principal indulgence after the debt has been matured; and cases of a similar character based upon well established equity principles; but they have failed to cite a case, indeed we believe that none can be found, which will sustain the action of the court in sustaining the demurrers to this complaint.
The judgment is, therefore, reversed, and the cause remanded with instructions to overrule the demurrer to the complaint.
Scott, Hoyt, Anders and Stiles, J J., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Hall & Paulson Furniture Company v. Henry E. Schmidt, and Fred Kirschner and Charles Kennett
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published