13 Ga. App. 790 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1913
White sued Hecht for damages for breach of contract and obtained a verdict. The only question for decision is whether there was any evidence to authorize the verdict. The contract for the breach of which damages are claimed obligated White to build two houses for Hecht, each of which was to be an exact duplicate of another house owned by Hecht, which had been constructed by White. Under the contract White was to furnish all labor and material and Hecht was to pay $450 for each house. White claims that after some of the material had been delivered and the houses partly completed, Hecht breached the contract by
Undoubtedly the breach of an executory contract by one of the parties justifies its abandonment by the other; but this well-recognized principle of the law of contract was not applicable to any theory of the evidence in the present case. Hecht’s sole obligation was to pay $900 for the two houses when completed. So far as appears from the evidence, he was under no obligation to pay anything until after completion of the houses. The evidence nowhere discloses that Hecht committed a breach of any obligation assumed by him under the contract. The plaintiff was an independent contractor, and Hecht had no right to interfere with him. White claims he was keeping within the letter of his contract. If this were true, he ought to have ignored the complaints made by Hecht, proceeded with the work, and upon its eompletiton sued for the