Court Opinion

ID: 9547736
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:51:18.095795+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:18:01.551823
License: Public Domain

ON DENIAL OF PETITION FOR REHEARING
The property owner contends that a genuine issue exists, concerning the timeliness of the lien filed by Barlow’s, because the property owner did not request the final work performed at direction of the state electrical inspector. In our view, the issue is not what the property owner requested; it is whether the work in question was unnecessary or trivial. Although the property owner characterizes this as an issue of fact, there is no genuine dispute about the nature of the work itself.
In Craig v. Hisaw, Inc. v. Bishop, 95 Idaho 145, 504 P.2d 818 (1972), our Supreme Court held that capping and sealing a completed well, in order to comply with state health and safety regulations, would not be deemed unnecessary or trivial work. This holding is consistent with the general rule, in case law, that remedying a defect in work or materials, at demand of a public inspector, will extend the time to file a lien. See Annot., 54 A.L.R. 984, 988 (1928). There has been no showing in the present case that the defects resulted from bad faith or were inconsequential. Accordingly, we adhere to our affirmance of summary judgment for Barlow’s.
The property owner also challenges our decision to uphold, against an allegation of fraud, summary judgment in favor of the officers of the Bannock Cleaning Corporation, the general contractor. Citing Smith v. Great Basin Grain Co., 98 Idaho 266, 561 P.2d 1299 (1977), the property owner argues that he was not required to make any showing of particular facts constituting the alleged fraud. However, our reading of Smith discloses that it stands only for a limited exception to the general rule, that the element of fraudulent intent must be specifically pleaded and proved. That exception arises where a corporate officer obtains a preference for himself by appropriation of corporate property, to the detriment of creditors of the corporation. Id. at 279, 561 P.2d at 1312.
There is no showing in this case that the corporate officers obtained any such preference. Consequently, the general rule, requiring specific pleading and proof of fraud, was applicable here. We continue to affirm summary judgment for the officers of Bannock Cleaning Corporation.
The property owner’s petition for rehearing is denied.
WALTERS, C. J., and SWANSTROM, J., concur.