48 Minn. 425 | Minn. | 1892
Action to enforce a mechanic’s lien under Laws 1889, ch. 200. The' appellants object that, under the constitutional provisions with respect to the passage and approval of bills,
The complaint alleges that all the material for which the lien is •claimed was sold and delivered by plaintiffs to the defendant Sewell, who was contractor for the owner, to be used in the construction of the building; and the court below finds this allegation to be true, but finds that two items of the material were not actually used in the •construction of the building, and, as a conclusion, that plaintiffs were not entitled to a lien for those two items. As the lien statement was not filed within the prescribed time after the last of the other items, plaintiffs’ entire claim depends on the two items referred to. The question then is, can there be a lien, as against the owner and those claiming under him, for material sold and delivered to his contractor for the purpose of constructing a building, which building is actually •constructed or commenced, though the material is not put into it ? The case of Smith v. Barnes, 38 Minn. 240, (36 N. W. Rep. 346,) decided that where material is sold for constructing a building on •one lot, (say lot 5,) but no building is constructed on that lot, and it is constructed on another lot (lot 6) not belonging to the owner who purchased the material, and the material is used in that building, no lien can be claimed against the former lot; and the decision is put, in part at least, on the proposition that the statute contemplates that there must be a building on the land. Here there was a building, but the material furnished for it was not all put into it. The statute (Laws 1889, ch. 200, § 1) provides that “whoever * * * furnishes skill, material, or machinery * * * for the erection, alteration, repair, or removal of any house * * * shall have a lien to secure the contract price or value * * * upon such house, * * * and upon the right, title, and interest of the owner thereof in and to the land, upon which the same is situate.” The lien state
. Order reversed, and the court below will enter judgment on the findings for the lien claimed.
(Opinion published 51 N. W. Rep. 224.)