Covey v. Schiesswohl
| Decision Date | 06 March 1911 |
| Citation | 114 P. 292,50 Colo. 68 |
| Parties | COVEY et al. v. SCHIESSWOHL. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Mesa County; Sprigg Shakleford, Judge.
Action by J. H. Schiesswohl against C. H. Covey and others. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff, defendants appeal. Affirmed.
Wheeler & Weiser, for appellants.
McMullin & Sternberg and Charles R. Brock, for appellee.
The action is by the owner of a building to recover for a breach by the sureties of a guaranty or indemnity bond given to the owner by the contractor to secure the latter's performance of a building contract. The defendant sureties' demurrer to the complaint, on the ground that it did not state a cause of action against them, was overruled. They elected to stand thereby, and judgment went for plaintiff.
Defendants rely upon the general maxim that upon a bond of indemnity or guaranty the liability of the surety is strictissimi juris. Such is the statement often found in the books. This does not, however, mean that rules of construction of such a contract are different from those applicable to written instruments generally. What is meant by the maxim is that, when the meaning of a contract of indemnity or guaranty has once been judicially determined under the rule of reasonable construction applicable to all written contracts, then the liability of the surety, under his contract, as thus interpreted or construed, is not to be extended beyond its strict meaning. People ex rel. v. Beach, 113 P. 513. Applying these rules, let us test the sufficiency of the complaint.
The condition of the bond, as copied into the complaint is This reference in the bond to the contract makes the pertinent points of the latter a part of the bond. Recourse to the contract may therefore be had to see what obligations the contract imposes upon the builder. The entire contract is set out in the complaint, and among its provisions is the requirement that the builder shall 'furnish all labor and materials.' The clause as to payments reads: 'Payments to be made as follows: One-half when building is closed and one-half when building is completed, upon contractor giving receipted bills for all labor and material in full.'
The complaint alleges, in substance, that the builder did not pay all the bills for labor and material, but, on the contrary, that workmen and materialmen were not paid and, to secure themselves, filed, in the amount of their respective claims, liens against the structure and the lot, with the result that plaintiff was obliged to pay the claims to free his property...
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Powder Horn Constructors, Inc. v. City of Florence
...Springs, 638 P.2d 752 (1981); Central Sur. & Ins. Corp. v. American Emp. Ins. Co., 150 Colo. 6, 370 P.2d 455 (1962); Covey v. Schiesswohl, 50 Colo. 68, 114 P. 292 (1911). The essential elements of a liquidated damages provision are: (1) that the parties intended to liquidate damages; (2) th......
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Howard v. Fisher
... ... We have held ... sureties to be so liable before. A. S. Ripley Building Co. v ... Coors, 37 Colo. 78, 85, 84 P. 817; Covey v. Schiesswohl, 50 ... Colo. 68, 114 P. 292. See, also, Hughes v. Gibson, 15 ... Colo.App. 318, 62 P. 1037; Stoddard v. Hibbler, 156 Mich ... ...
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General Ins. Co. of America v. City of Colorado Springs, 80SC139
...and is to be interpreted according to the standards which govern the construction of contracts in general. E.g., Covey v. Schiesswohl, 50 Colo. 68, 114 P. 292 (1911); Bonney v. Robertson, 6 Colo.App. 485, 41 P. 842 (1895); Restatement of Security, § 88 (1941). The significance of construing......
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United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Citizens' Building & Improvment Co.
... ... Barclay v. London Co., 46 ... Colo. 558, 562, 105 P. 685; People v. Beach, 49 Colo. 516, ... 518, 113 P. 513, 37 L.R.A. (N. S.) 873; Covey v. Schiesswohl, ... 50 Colo. 68, 69, 114 P. 292; Warner v. Conn. Mut. Co., 109 ... U.S. 357, 363, 3 S.Ct. 221, 27 L.Ed. 962; American Surety Co ... ...