Eureka Sandstone Co. v. Long

Citations

• 11 Wash. 161
• 39 P. 446
• 1895 Wash. LEXIS 273

Syllabus

<p>BONDS—ACCEPTANCE WITHOUT PRINCIPAL’S SIGNATURE—LIABILITY OP SURETIES — ACTION ON BOND—JOINDER OP PARTIES.</p> <p>Sureties upon the bond given by a contractor under the terms of §2415, Gen. Stat., for the protection of those furnishing labor or material to the contractor in the construction of public improvements, cannot escape liability from the fact that the bond was not signed by the contractor, when it has been delivered by him to, and accepted by, the other contracting party with the knowledge and consent of the sureties. (Hoyt, O. J., dissents.)</p> <p>The presumption arises from the delivery of a bond by the principal, as the agent of the sureties, that they must have known its conditions, and ratification by them of the bond while ignorant that it was unsigned by the principal, will not affect their liability.</p> <p>A complaint against principal and sureties upon a contractor’s bond, given in compliance with § 2415, Gen. Stat., hut which had not been signed by the principal, is not demurrable on the ground of misjoinder of parties defendant, for the reason that the obligations of the parties and the rights of plaintiff are identical, although founded in the case of the principal upon the contract, and in the case of the sureties upon the bond.</p>