Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill & Lumber Co. v. Cummings

Citations

• 86 Cal. 22
• 24 P. 814
• 1890 Cal. LEXIS 967

Syllabus

<p>Mechanics’ Lien — Building Contract — Construction or Code. — The provisions of section 1184 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relative to the mode of payment of the contract price of a building, do not apply to> such contracts when the price does not exceed one thousand dollars, but only to such contracts when the price exceeds that sum.</p> <p>Id.—Withholding Brice from Contractor—Notice—Discharge or Reputed Owner. —No part of the contract price under a building contract, when the price does not exceed one thousand dollars, need be withheld by the reputed owner, and he may pay the whole of it to the contractor before the commencement or after the completion of the work, unless the notice prescribed in section 1184 of the Code of Civil Procedure is given in time to intercept the money in the hands of the reputed owner, otherwise the payment of it to the contractor in accordance with the terms of the contract will operate as a complete discharge as far as the reputed owner is concerned.</p> <p>Id. — Defense to Lien of Material-man — Sufficiency of Answer. — Averments of an answer in an action by a material-man to foreclose a lien upon a building that the contract between the owner of the buildt ing and the contractor was verbal; that the price to be and that was paid thereunder was less than one thousand dollars; that it was to be and was paid every Saturday night as the work progressed; that the last installment was paid upon the completion of the work; and that the only notice that the owner received from the plaintiff was about one month after he had paid the contractor in full, —are sufficient to constitute a defense on the part of the owner of the building against the claim of lien on the part of the material-man.</p>