All Bay Mill & Lumber Co., Inc. v. Surety Co.

All Bay Mill & Lumber Co., Inc. (All Bay), appeals after the trial court entered judgment in favor of the defendant, Surety Company of the Pacific (Surety), on All Bay’s complaint to recover on a contractor’s license bond. We affirm.

Facts

This action concerns All Bay’s efforts to collect on a $5,000 contractor’s license bond issued by Surety to John Mendonca Construction (Mendonca) after Mendonca failed to pay for building supplies provided by All Bay. In order to recover on the contractor’s bond, All Bay was required to establish that it was damaged as the result of Mendonca’s willful and deliberate violation of the Contractors License Law. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 7000 et seq.) All Bay waived a jury, and after a brief trial, the court found in favor of Surety.

The evidence shows that All Bay sold lumber and related construction materials to Mendonca to be used in constructing the Ladera Vista Condominium Project in Novato. Mendonca was the general contractor on the project, as well as a general partner in the limited partnership which was developing the property. Although Mendonca made regular payments on its account with All Bay for nearly 14 months, Mendonca failed…