Court Opinion

ID: 9732670
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:30:54.636331+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:31.500531
License: Public Domain

V. J. Brennan, P. J.
(dissenting). I respectfully disagree with the decision reached by my colleagues. It is my considered opinion that under the present law, MCLA 129.201 et seq.; MSA 5.2321(1) et seq., substantial compliance with the terms of the statute by a "claimant not having a direct contractual relationship with the principal contractor” is sufficient to allow the claimant to proceed against the payment bond for the amount due and owing for labor or materials furnished for the performance of the contract and that in the absence of some showing of prejudice a surety may not benefit by a subcontractor’s noncompliance with the statute.
My colleagues hold that substantial compliance with the terms of the statute is not sufficient because of "the plain language of the statute and the force of the precedent which we must apply in our interpretation thereof’. The cases relied on by my colleagues, however, in my estimation, have no application under the terms of this statute. The cases relied on by my colleagues all involve the earlier statute governing this area, MCLA 570.101 et seq.; MSA 26.321 et seq., which contained a provision added to § 2 by 1925 PA 384 which required notice to be given to the surety. This provision, as explained by our Supreme Court in People, for use of Wheeling Corrugating Co v W L Thon Co, 307 Mich 273; 11 NW2d 886 (1943), was apparently passed in response to the decision of our Supreme Court in People, for use of New Jersey Terra Cotta Co v Traves, 188 Mich 415; 154 NW 120 (1915), and served as the basis for the subsequent decisions from our Supreme Court which held that the statute was mandatory and to *656be strictly complied with. The statute in force prior to the enactment of 1925 PA 384 did not require that notice be given to the sureties and was given a liberal interpretation by our Supreme Court. Substantial compliance with the terms of the statute was held to be sufficient to allow a subcontractor to recover on the bond, People, for use of Sauer v Connell, 195 Mich 77; 161 NW 844 (1917), and it was also held that a surety company could not benefit by a subcontractor’s noncompliance with the terms of the statute as to notice without alleging and proving that it was injured thereby. People, for use of Sauer v Connell, supra, People, for use of New Jersey Terra Cotta Co v Traves, supra. Our Supreme Court departed from this rule once the Legislature included in the statute the requirement that notice be given to the surety.' The present act, MCLA 129.201 et seq.; MSA 5.2321(1) et seq., however, like that in effect prior to the enactment of 1925 PA 384, does not require that notice be given to the surety. By eliminating this requirement from the statute the Legislature also eliminated the premise underlying the decisions relied upon by my colleagues — that is, that the statutory purpose was to give notice to the surety. See People, ex rel F Yeager Bridge and Culvert Co v Cooke Contracting Co, 372 Mich 563; 127 NW2d 308 (1964). Under these circumstances I would follow the decisions of our Supreme Court decided before the enactment of 1925 PA 384 and hold that substantial compliance with the terms of the statute is sufficient and that in the absence of some showing of prejudice a surety may not benefit by a subcontractor’s noncompliance with its terms.
In the case at bar, therefore, I would hold that plaintiff’s claim is not barred by his failure to give *657notice to defendant within the statutory 30-day period. I would, therefore, reverse the decision of the trial judge and remand the case for trial.