City of Everett v. Snyder
City of Everett v. Snyder
Opinion of the Court
— On April 14, 1915, the city of Everett let a contract to J. B. Snyder for the construction of concrete walks and pavement on Pulton street in that city. The contract price for doing the work was $6,242.50. The work was to be performed within sixty days. The United States Fidelity & Guaranty Com
“The general rule is, if the building owner advances to the builder more than he is entitled to under the contract, the surety will be released. The rule rests upon two reasons. The one is that such advance deprives the surety of the security which the owner or principal contractor has agreed to hold for his benefit, and the loss of the inducement which otherwise would have operated on the contractor’s mind to induce him
And on page 479 we said further:
“In all the cases decided by this court, and by all other courts holding that payment by the owner would not discharge the principal, the facts have been such that no prejudice resulted by reason of such payments to the surety. But in this case the surety was prejudiced, in the two essentials noticed and endorsed as sufficient by all the books; that is, that they were deprived of that security which their contract gave them; and furthermore, the contractor was relieved of the inducement to perform the labor and furnish the material stipulated in his contract. ’ ’
See, also, Maryland Casualty Co. v. Washington National Bank, 92 Wash. 497, 159 Pac. 689.
We think it is plain in this case that the surety was prejudiced in at least two particulars: First, the life of the contract was extended for about a year, during which time the evidence shows the price of material and labor was substantially increased; second, the full contract price was paid by the city to the contractor or his creditor before the work was done. There was no incentive left to the contractor to finish the work, and even though the thirty per cent which was required by the contract to be held until after the work was fully completed was primarily for the benefit of laborers and materialmen, it was a fund which the surety had a right to rely upon to pay whatever claims might be filed against the bond. The act of the city in delaying the work until the next year and in paying the full contract price before the work was completed, and without the notice or consent of the surety company, made a very different contract from the one which the surety company undertook to guarantee.
The judgment is therefore affirmed.
Main, O. J., Holcomb, Chadwick, and Mackintosh, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The City of Everett v. J. B. Snyder
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Principal and Surety — Alteration in Contract — Release oe Surety. A contractor’s surety is prejudiced, and therefore discharged from liability to the city, where the work was suspended for an indefinite time without notice to the surety, and the full contract price paid before the work was fully completed, contrary to the terms of the contract and bond.