52 So. 318 | Ala. | 1910
Suit was brought on February 13, 1909, against the appellant as the administrator of the estate of L. N. Archer, deceased. The complaint, after elimination of the common counts by amendment, went upon a special contract for the agreed price of materials furnished and work done under a contract with the deceased, and for the enforcement of a mechanics’ and materialman’s lien under the statute.—Code, §§ 4754-4784. The complaint, as thus amended, alleged that the contract had been entered into and materials had been furnished and work done for the erection, etc., of a certain building on a lot therein described, on October 27, 1908. In addition to the general issue,
The mechanic or materialman who furnishes labor and material is entitled to pursue in one action his lien and a general judgment against the contracting owner or, in a proper case, his personal representative, though he may have only one satisfaction. On a complaint, fashioned as was the complaint in this case, the plaintiff may have a judgment of both characters, or, failing to establish his lien, may have a personal judgment only.—Bedsole v. Peters, 79 Ala. 133. Under the statute the lien of mechanic and materialman attaches from the commencement of the building or improvement, subject, however, to be defeated and lost if the claim be not verified and filed with the judge of probate within the time prescribed.—Welch v. Porter, 63 Ala. 225. The complaint alleged a contract with the owner in his lifetime, the performance of work and labor upon, and the furnishing of material for, tne building, on October 27, 1908, and the filing of a verified statement on November 28th of the same year. To that aspect of the complaint which sought a lien the plea of insolvency was therefore no answer. Nor could it operate as a plea in bar to so much of the complaint as sought or would justify a judgment running against the goods and chattels of the decedent which might come into the hands of his personal representative, since it averred a declaration of insolvency after suit brought] nor was it intended to have that effect. The only effect of such a plea in answer to the last-mentioned aspect of the complaint is that, if judgment be rendered on other issues against the personal representative, execution cannot issue, and the judgment must
Archer died October 30, 1908. The statement of lien filed in the probate court November 28, 1908, and offered in evidence at the trial, refers to Louis B. Lavergne, as the administrator of the estate of L. N. Archer, deceased, as the owner or proprietor of the lot upon which the building was located. The leasehold interest was a chattel real and descended to the administrator, so that he was properly described as the owner or proprietor thereof.
The statute provides a lien for every mechanic, person, firm, or corporation who shall do or perform any work or labor upon, or furnish any material, fixture, engine, boiler, or machinery for any building or improvement on land or for repairing altering, or beautifying the same, under or by virtue of any contract with the owner or proprietor thereof. There is no requirement that the contract shall be in writing. The evidence adduced afforded a sufficient basis for a finding by the jury that the material for which a lien was claimed had been furnished and the building erected under a contract with the then owner of the leasehold interest. Likewise, it was for the jury to say whether the value of the work done and material furnished had
We are of opinion that it was not necessary to the perfecting of a lien under the statute that the statement should set out the nature and extent of the owner’s title ; nor was it necessary to adduce proof of the nature and extent of the alleged owner’s interest, for, in any event, only such interest as he had could be subjected to the lien. The statute confers a lien on land and on buildings and improvements to the extent in ownership of all the right, title, and interest therein of the owner or proprietor.
Eeversed and remanded.