134 Minn. 156 | Minn. | 1916
In December, 1913, defendant Virginia Buck, now Virginia Ireland, became the owner of a vacant lot.
Under, the statute in force prior to the revision of 1905 it was held that all liens attached as of the date of performance of the first work or the delivery of the first material on the ground, that is from the commencement of the improvement on the land, and that a' mortgage given and recorded prior to that time was prior to all liens; and this was the rule, though the architect performed his services prior to the giving of the mortgage. Wentworth v. Tubbs, 53 Minn. 388, 55 N. W. 543; City of Ortonville v. Geer, 93 Minn. 501, 101 N. W. 963, 106 Am. St. 445. The statute then provided that the lien statement filed should “operate to continue such lien during all the period of time from the time of the furnishing of the first item of such labor * * * material” (Laws 1889, p. 317, c. 200, § 8), and that “such liens shall attach at the time of the furnishing of the first item of such labor, skill, material or machinery and shall be preferred and be prior to any mortgage or other incumbrance of which the lienholder had no notice at the time of furnishing such first items and which mortgage or other incumbrance was unrecorded at the time such lien attached.” Chapter 101, p. 224, Laws 1895.
The revision of 1905 made some changes, and the provisions there are as follows:
“All such liens, as against the owner of the land, shall attach and take effect from the time the first item of material or labor is furnished upon the premises for the beginning of the improvement, and shall be preferred to any mortgage or other incumbrance not then of record, unless the lienholder had actual notice thereof.”
And the same section further provides that, as against a Iona fide pur
These are the provisions now in force.
The claim of the lien claimants to priority under this statute is based wholly on the decision in Lamoreaux v. Andersch, 128 Minn. 261, 150 N. W. 908, L.r.A. 1915D, 204, where it was held that an architect might have a lien, as against the interest of the owner of the property who employed him, for the value or price of his services in preparing plans, though the owner abandoned the improvement before anything was done on the ground. The argument of the lien claimants proceeds as follows: For the purpose of determining when the liens attached the legislature has made two classes, first, owners, and second, Iona fide purchasers and incumbrancers without notice; that Warden, though an incumbrancer with a valid mortgage, is not an incumbrancer without notice. His rights are, therefore, the same as were those of the owner, his mortgagor. It is then contended that as a result of the decision in the Andersch case all liens must be held to attach as against the owner and mortgagees with notice claiming under him as of the time the architect commenced to prepare his plans.
It was not held in the Andersch case that, where a building is actually constructed, liens attach as against the owner of the land as of the time the architect commences the preparation of his plans. We cannot so hold here. The statute does not admit of such construction.
The language of the statute, when applied to a case where a building is actually constructed, is not doubtful. In plain terms it says that "all * * * liens * * * attach and take effect from the time the first item of material or labor is furnished upon the premises for the beginning of the improvement.” If anything more need be said, we might say that the provision that mechanics’ liens should be preferred to any mortgage or other incumbrance not of record at the time of furnishing such first item of material or labor unless the lienholder had actual notice thereof, leads to the inference that it was intended that such liens were not to be preferred to any mortgage which was then of record.
The rule contended for is not deducible from the decision in the Ander,seh case. It was hard in the Andersch case to harmonize the language
We hold that when a building is erected all liens attach at the time the first item of material or labor is furnished on the ground. The result is that the mortgage is prior to the liens.
Judgment affirmed.