Johnson v. La Grave

The respondent, La Grave, entered into a contract with his co-defendant, Kearns, for the construction of a building in San Francisco for the sum of four thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars. After performing a portion of his contract, Kearns, on the 24th of October, 1891, gave to the appellant written notice that he abandoned the contract, and declined to proceed further in its execution, and thereafter did no *325 work upon the building. La Grave subsequently made a contract with another builder for completing the construction of the building. The building was completed December 21,1891, and the entire cost of its completion was two hundred and seventy-four dollars more than the original contract price with Kearns. Prior to the abandonment of the contract by Kearns, certain materialmen had furnished him materials for the construction of the building, which were used therein, and for which, in January, 1892, they filed with the county recorder claims for mechanics’ liens. These liens were assigned to the plaintiff, who brought this action for their enforcement.

The court finds that after the execution of the contract between Kearns and the respondent, and before work was…