Hoffman Co. v. Title Guaranty & Surety Co.

Citations

• 255 Pa. 112
• 99 A. 414
• 1916 Pa. LEXIS 536

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Building contracts — Bond—Principal and surety— Subcontractors — Default—Liability of surety.</p> <p>1. Where, in an action on a subcontractor’s bond conditioned to protect the general contractor from “pecuniary loss,” it appeared that the subcontractor defaulted, causing the general contractor to default, and that the owners of the property on which the building was to be erected made payments to materialmen for work performed, thereby acquiring a cause of action against the general contractor, the general contractor could not recover from the surety on the subcontractor’s bond the amount of such payments in the absence of evidence showing that the general contractor had actually suffered pecuniary loss in consequence of the’ liability so incurred.</p> <p>2. In such ease the general contractor could not recover from the subcontractor’s surety for loss of commissions sustained by the general contractor in consequence of the subcontractor’s failure to carry out the contract, in the absence of evidence tending to show to what extent the general contractor would have realized profit had the building been completed under the contract.</p> <p>3. In such case where the general contractor assigned his claim to the owner and brought suit to his use, no recovery could be had for the cost of finishing the work in excess of the contract price, in the absence of evidence showing the proportion of the cost which was due to the subcontractor’s default.</p> <p>Moschzisker and Potter, JJ., dissent.</p>