52 Conn. 532 | Conn. | 1885
This is a suit to foreclose a mechanic’s lien. The plaintiffs allege that the defendant Ellen J. Tillinghast was the owner of a building, and that they fur
The defendants, by way of defense, allege that they made a contract with Hutchins to make the repairs, and that they had in good faith paid him all that was due on the contract, and that the plaintiffs did not give the notice required of sub-contractors. This defense is denied by the plaintiffs. . This last issue is found against the defendants and no claim is now made under it. In respect to the first issue the court finds that about the first of April, 1880, quite thorough repairs were needed on the property, and Mrs. Tillinghast arranged with her brother, said Hutch-ins, that he should attend to the making of such repairs, giving him full authority to act according to his own judgment, but directing him to expend no more than $500 ; and at or about that date she furnished him with $500 in money witli which to pay for the same. . Acting upon the authorityso given him by Mrs. Tillinghast Mr. Hutch-ins applied to the plaintiffs, who were lumber dealers in the village of Danielsonvile, for lumber and other materials suitable for the contemplated work; and upon his order the plaintiffs furnished materials to the amount of $372.79 which were used, in and about the repairs made by Hutchins on the property. The materials were furnished from April 1st, to July 27th, 1880. At that time the plaintiffs did not know that Mrs. Tillinghast owned the property but supposed Mr. Hutchins to be the owner, and furnished the materials upon his order and charged them to him. Soon after they had ceased to supply materials the plaintiffs for the first time learned that Mrs. Tillinghast was the owner of the property, and they also learned that Hutchins was acting for her in attending to these repairs. They then elected to make her their debtor and put their certificate of lien upon record. In contracting for the materials fur
The court then formally found both issues for the plaintiffs and rendered judgment in their favor. The defendants appealed.
The first, second and third reasons of appeal present the claim in substance that Hutchins had no authority to act for the defendants in purchasing materials to so large an amount and on credit. The fourth reason is that the defendants were in no event liable beyond the sum of $150, the amount remaining in Hutchins’s hands. This reason, at least in that form, does not seem to be insisted on. The fifth reason is that when the plaintiffs elected to make Mrs. Tillinghast their debtor, the accounts between the defendants and Hutchins showed that Hutchins had been paid in full.
We will notice the last reason first. In it the defendants invoke the aid of a familiar principle of the law of agency, that when a creditor seeks to hold an undisclosed principal liable he must take the account between the principal and his agent as he finds it when he first discovers the principal. If then the agent has been paid in full the creditor can have no claim on the principal. The principle of law is not controverted; but its application to the present case is denied. The agency here was not an ordinary one for the purchase of goods. The duty of the agent was to make repairs on a building. In making the repairs he had an unlimited discretion except in one particular—the expenditure was limited to $500. Thorough repairs were needed, and he had “ full authority to act according to his own judgment.” And this authority related to a subject-matter concerning which the statute provides as follows:—“ Every building in the construction or repairs of which * * * any person shall have a claim for materials furnished or services rendered *. * *
To apply and enforce the statute in a case like this works no injustice. Every owner of real estate knows the law. When he employs an agent to construct or repair a building he knows the liability he incurs under the lien law, and may easily protect himself, and it is not unreasonable to require him to do so; while it would be a hardship to require mechanics, when the owner is unknown, to know the terms of the agency, and to ascertain the nature and extent of the private instructions to the agent. We conclude, therefore, that the peculiar principles of the law of agency which relate to undisclosed principals must yield to the provisions of the statute.
We come now to the question whether it sufficiently appears that Hutchins was not rightfully acting for Mrs.
The authority of Hutchins could not be questioned but for the direction not to expend over 1500, in connection with the fact that that amount was placed in his hands for that purpose. Do these facts necessarily lead to the legal conclusion that Hutchins in expending more than $500 exceeded his authority ?
We must bear in mind the distinction between the power conferred upon an agent and instructions given him relative to the execution of the power. The power conferred was to make thorough repairs, with full authority to act according to his own judgment. The limitation affected not the nature and character of the power, but simply restrained within certain limits its exercise; and that restriction was known only to the principal and his agent. It is difficult to see how third persons dealing with the agent, with no knowledge of such instructions, can be affected by them. It seems to us that that is a matter between the principal and agent alone. It is in fact and in law a part of the agent’s private instructions, which instructions do not qualify the power so far as third persons are concerned. This will be more apparent from a consideration of the consequences of a different view. Let us suppose that the limitation qualifies the agency as to the plaintiffs. The agency commenced about April 1st, 1880. On that day the plaintiffs commenced to furnish materials, and continued from time to time to do so until July 27th. Obviously $500 was not expended when they commenced; and probably a large portion of the bill, if not the whole,
Again : assuming that the limitation qualifies the power, how is it to 'be known when the limit is reached? Is it when contracts are entered into calling for that sum ? If so, a contract may be partly authorized and party unauthorized. Is it when the supplies furnished and labor performed amount to that sum ? Then, too, 'contracts may be divided. More than this; some portion of this claim even then would be good. The record fails to show what portion of it was authorized and what not. Non constat but that the whole bill was within the appropriation. In that event we could find no error.
If all the bills exceed the limit, how and by what rule is the appropriation to be apportioned between materials and labor ?
These suggestions are enough to show the practical difficulty, if not the absurdity, of regarding the limitation as qualifying the power.
But conceding that Hutchins’s authority was limited in the first instance, and that too as to third persons without notice, it does not follow that the restriction continued to the close of the agency. It is no new experience for persons engaged in repairing buildings to find that much more
There is nothing improbable in such an assumption ; but it is hardly necessary. Suppose that during the four months or more that this work was in progress, Mrs. Tillinghast was informed from time to time of the repairs needed and of the amount being expended, and that she made no objection to it, is it not clear that from such facts the court might properly find that Hutchins was acting by authority ?
Now we agree that these facts do not appear; and they need not appear; for'they are merely evidential facts from which the ultimate fact, actual authority, may be inferred. When we remember that courts will make every reasonable intendment to sustain a judgment, such considerations are pertinent and important, especially when the court simply finds the main fact in issue and omits a detailed statement of the circumstances which ordinarily attend such transactions.
We come then to this result, that the finding is not merely the statement of a legal conclusion, but must be regarded as a conclusive finding of fact.
It only remains to notice briefly the claim that Hutchins was not authorized to purchase materials on credit. The question of, fact involved in this claim is included in the question of authority we have just considered. He was not expressly prohibited from purchasing on credit. Such a prohibition, if it exists at all, must be inferred from the fact that money was placed in his hands. That inference, however, is one of fact and not of law. It was for the court below to settle the facts. That court has passed upon the question, and has not only failed to find a prohi
A majority of the court are of the opinion that there is no error in the judgment complained of.
In this opinion Geangek and Saneoed, Js., concurred. Park, C. J., and Loomis, J., dissented.