Donald Curlee v. State Auto Mutual

This case involves the interpretation of a permit bond. The contractor and a surety entered into a permit bond relating to work the contractor was to perform for a metropolitan government. The bond was written in favor of the metropolitan government as well as property owners whose property was damaged due to the contractor's violation of certain metropolitan government codes. In the underlying lawsuit, a property owner was awarded a judgment against the contractor. In this lawsuit, the property owner sued the surety for failing to pay the judgment against the contractor. The trial court granted the surety's motion to dismiss, finding that there was no contractual relationship between the property owner and the surety on which a claim could be based, nor was the property owner a third-party beneficiary of the permit bond. The property owner appeals. We review the trial court's decision as a motion for summary judgment and affirm, finding that the record does not show that the property owner was among the parties protected under the language of the Bond.