Cross appeals from an order of the Supreme Court at Special Term (Bradley, J.), entered July 11, 1984 in Rensselaer County, which denied plaintiff’s motion and defendant Robert A. Kurtter’s cross motion for summary judgment.
Because it had not been paid for electrical work performed in 1978 on property owned by defendant Tibbits Associates (Tibbits), a now defunct general partnership in the City of Troy, plaintiff filed two notices of lien upon the subject premises in the Rensselaer County Clerk’s office on February 5, 1979. The notices complied in all respects with the requirements of the Lien Law, except that plaintiff’s verification was not notarized.
Thereafter, on March 16, 1979, Tibbits conveyed the encumbered premises to defendant Robert A. Kurtter. However, before consummating the transaction, Kurtter became aware of plaintiff’s liens and even offered to settle the dispute. Plaintiff refused, renewed its liens in January 1980 pursuant to Lien Law § 17, and then commenced the instant action against Kurtter and Tibbits to foreclose the liens. Plaintiff and Kurtter both moved for summary judgment; Tibbits defaulted. Special Term concluded that the liens were invalid for lack of notarization but declined to grant summary judgment because of perceived factual questions relating to plaintiff’s claim that Kurtter is equitably estopped from contesting the liens’ validity. Both parties have appealed.
Lien Law § 23, which mandates a liberal construction of that law, declares that: "substantial compliance with its several provisions shall be sufficient for the validity of a lien and
Order modified, on the law, without costs, by reversing so much thereof as denied plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment; motion granted and summary judgment awarded in favor of plaintiff; and, as so modified, affirmed. Main, J. P., Casey, Weiss, Yesawich, Jr., and Levine, JJ., concur. [123 Misc 2d 470.]
