Marple v. Cooke

Citations

• 65 Pa. Super. 220
• 1916 Pa. Super. LEXIS 48

Syllabus

<p>Municipalities — Contracts—Personal liability of city official— Principal and agent — City of Philadelphia — Act of April 21,1858, Sec. 5, P. L. 885.</p> <p>Under tbe Act of April 21,1858, Sec. 5, P. L. 385, which provides that persons claiming against the City of Philadelphia on “unauthorized debts or contracts, may recover against the person or persons illegally making the same,” the Director of the Department of Public Works of Philadelphia is personally responsible for the price of material ordered by him and furnished by a contractor and used by the city, where there was no contract in writing as provided by the Act of June 1, 1885, Art. 14, P. L. 37, and where the contract for the material was not authorized by law or ordinance, and no appropriation to pay for it had been previously made by councils.</p> <p>Assumpsit is the proper remedy to enforce such statutory liability, and the act itself need not be specifically pleaded.</p>