Puget Sound State Bank v. Gallucci

Citations

• 82 Wash. 445
• 144 P. 698
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1545

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations — Public Works — Contractor’s Bond— Persons Protected — Loans—“Performance of Contract.” Moneys loaned by a bank to a city contractor for the purpose of paying for labor performed and materials used in an improvement, are “debts, dues, and demands incurred in the performance of the work,” and are secured by the contractor’s bond conditioned as required by Rem. & Bal. Code, § 1159, that the contractor “shall pay all laborers, mechanics, subcontractors, and materialmen, and all persons who shall supply said principal or subcontractors with provisions and supplies for the carrying on of said work, all just debts, dues and demands incurred in the performance of said work,” where the contract itself further stipulated that the contractor “will pay all just debts, dues and demands incurred in the performance of the work,” and the bond was further conditioned to faithfully perform all of the provisions of the contract.</p> <p>Same — Statutes—Construction. In such a case, the strict construction applicable to laws in the nature of lien laws are not to he applied, since the rights of the claimant and the obligations of the surety rest upon contract.</p> <p>Same — Contractor’s Bonds — Excessive Claims — Effect on Liability. The right to recover upon a contractor’s bond, given to secure performance of the contract and the payment of laborers, materialmen, and all just debts incurred in the performance of the work, is not impaired by reason of an excessive statement of the amount due on the claim, where no fraud was shown, proof of the exact sum was not then in the hands of the claimant, and the right of recovery did not rest entirely upon the statute, but on the contractual obligations of the bond, thereby avoiding a strict construction of the statute.</p> <p>Same — Contractor's Bond — Obligations Outside Statute. Obligations of a bond given by a contractor on city work to secure laborers, materialmen, and so forth, are enforcible, although they are a