Continental National Bank of Los Angeles v. Republic Casualty Co.

RICHARDS, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the superior court of the county of Los Angeles in favor of

[587]

the defendants in an action instituted by the plaintiff as assignee of certain claimants to recover upon a bond upon which the defendant The Republic Casualty Company was a surety, and which bond its principal, The National Construction Company, a corporation, caused to be executed in connection with certain contracts entered into between said construction company and the board of trustees of Santa Ana School District for the construction of two certain public school buildings in said district. After the execution of said bond and after the work of construction upon said buildings had proceeded for some time the plaintiff loaned to the contractor upon several occasions certain sums of money aggregating $11,600 for the purpose of assisting him in the performance of his contract. Thereafter the plaintiff further agreed to finance said contract, provided the contractor would turn over to it the warrants issued and to be issued to him by the school district as the work upon said buildings went on. The plaintiff also became the assignee of the claims of various materialmen and laborers who had furnished material or performed work upon the erection of one of said buildings, and the indebtedness thus accruing to it not having been paid by the contractor or by said district the said plaintiff commenced this action upon said contractor’s bond for the recovery of the several amounts alleged to be due to it upon said claims. The trial court rendered judgment for the defendants, and in so doing made its findings of fact upon the hearing of said action, and with such findings of fact the appellant herein does not disagree, and for that reason has presented its appeal upon the judgment-roll alone. The appellant, however, bases its appeal upon the alleged erroneous conclusion of law which the trial court deduced from said findings of fact, the appellant’s chief and only substantial contention being that the conclusion of law of the trial court to the effect that “the bond set forth in plaintiff’s complaint and recovery on which is sought in this action against the surety, defendant The Republic Casualty Company, is the statutory bond required by the act approved May 10, 1919, and known as the ‘Public Works Act.’ ” The appellant herein in order to perfectly clarify the question presented upon this appeal concedes that if the foregoing conclusion of the trial court “is sound . . . then the judgment must be affirmed; but, if