Keenan v. Empire State Surety Co.

Citations

• 62 Wash. 250
• 113 P. 636
• 1911 Wash. LEXIS 685

Syllabus

<p>Principal and Surety — Discharge op Surety — Modification op Contract — Waiver. A surety company guaranteeing the performance of building contract waives a provision that the owner shall retain fifteen per cent of payments due for labor etc. until after completion of the contract, where, with the knowledge and cooperation of the agent to whom the company referred the matter, the contract was modified and the owner authorized to pay obligations as they accrued.</p> <p>Principal and Agent — Authority op Agent. A surety company having in writing notified the obligee that the adjustment of the principal’s default had been referred to a particular agent, it is within the scope of the agent’s powers, in the absence of any express limitation, to waive performance of the terms of the bond.</p> <p>Principal and Surety — Discharge op Surety — Agreements. An agreement between a surety company and the obligee on the bond that a certain person should act as an arbiter between them is not void by reason of the fact that such person was a debtor of the obligee, there being no showing that he did not act disinterestedly.</p>