Cernica v. Wagner's Wheel Alinement, Inc.

27 Pa. D. & C.3d 678, 1983 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 310
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Mercer County
DecidedFebruary 17, 1983
Docketno. 448 C.D. 1982
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 27 Pa. D. & C.3d 678 (Cernica v. Wagner's Wheel Alinement, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Mercer County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cernica v. Wagner's Wheel Alinement, Inc., 27 Pa. D. & C.3d 678, 1983 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 310 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1983).

Opinion

FORNELLI, J.,

— The matter is now before this court on defendant’s preliminary [679]*679objections in the nature of a demurrer and a motion for a more specific pleading to plaintiffs’ complaint in assumpsit and trespass.

Plaintiffs aver that their. Hough front-end loader used in their business operations was in need of repair. They contracted with defendant for the repairs based upon defendant’s repair estimate of between $6,991.45 and $8,000'.

.After the work was completed, plaintiffs were notified that the final repair costs totalled $10,655.77 and that defendant would retain the vehicle until paid in full. When plaintiffs protested the cost, a $10 per day storage charge was assessed. Plaintiffs subsequently paid the bill and storage charge under protest and filed the present action for breach of contract and trespass.

Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that many parts of the machine were not in need of replacement, that defendant fraudulently represented that extensive repairs were needed, and fraudulently represented that the charges and costs incurred were fair and reasonable when they were not. Plaintiffs request return of monies paid under protest, damages for loss of use of the machine and punitive damages.

Defendant has demurred to plaintiffs’ clairhs of damages for loss of use and for return of storage charges paid on the basis that its retention of the vehicle was proper under its right of repairman’s lien against the vehicle.1 (

[680]*680Preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer admit as true all well-pled facts and any inferences reasonably deductible from such facts. 5 Standard Pa. Prac. 2d §25:61. In ruling on a demurrer, the test is whether it is clear and free from doubt from the facts pled that the pleader will be unable to prove facts legally sufficient to establish his right to relief. Firing v. Kephart, 466 Pa. 560, 353 A.2d 833 (1976).

I

Defendant’s demurrer to that part of plaintiffs’ complaint claiming damgages for loss of use is refused. There is no doubt that defendant by repairing the vehicle pursuant to plaintiffs’ request had the right to exercise an artisan’s lien against it for the charges owing.

A bailee, who at the request of the bailor, does work or adds materials to a chattel is entitled to a possessory lien which by operation of law is a security interest in the chattel. Restatement of Security, §61(a) (1941); International Electric Company v. N.S.T. Metal Products, Inc., 370 Pa. 213, 222 88 A.2d 40, 45 (1952). This artisan’s lien grows necessarily and naturally out of the , transactions of mankind as a matter of public policy. M’Intyre v. Carter, 2 Watts & Serg. 392, 395 (1841).

In the words of Chief Justice Best in Jacobs v. Latour, 5 Bingh. 132, quoted in Steinman v. Wilkins, 7 Watts & Serg. 466, 467 (1844), the doctrine of lien between debtor and creditor is so just that it cannot be too much.favored. Both policy and morality require that liens be sustained whenever possible without violating positive law. 51 Am Jur. 2d Liens, §11, p. 151 (1965).

[681]*681The lien exists equally whether there is an agreement to pay a stipulated price or only an applied contract to pay a reasonable price. Mathias v. Sellers, 86 Pa. 486, 491.

Specifically, one who repairs a chattel at the instance of the owner or his authorized agent has a right implied by law to retain possession of the chattel until paid. Having preserved or enhanced the value of the chattel, it is only just and reasonable that the workman should have the right to retain possession until paid for labor and service. Wilson v. Malenock, 128 Pa. Super. 544, 547-548 (1937); Natalie’s Towing Service, 252 Pa. Super. 539, 382 A. 2d 473 (1978), Rev’d. other grounds, 487 Pa. 548, 410 A. 2d 474 (1980); Associates Financial Services Company v. O’Dell, 491 Pa. 1, 417 A. 2d 604, 606 (1980).

• A person in possession of property under a lien is the owner of it against all the world and.no one may disturb his possession, even the actual owner, until the claim is paid. District of Columbia v. Franklin Investment Co., 404 A.2d 536 (D.C. App., 1979); 51 Am. Jur. 2d, Liens, §21 (1965).

Thus, based on the facts in the-complaint alleging how defendant obtained possession, he had a specific, possessory lien and had no duty to surrender the ’ vehicle until the agreed price, or absent an agreed price, until its reasonable charges were paid. Restatement of Security, §60, Comment to §64 (1941).

While defendant’s right to a lien for proper charges cannot, therefore, be disputed, an artisan does lose that right where he fraudulently or in bad faith charges an excessive amount. Being one of the oldest common law liens arising necessarily and naturally as a matter of public policy, the artisan’s hen may not be used, as a shield for fraud.

[682]*682An attempt by a lien holder to assert a lien for an excessive amount in bad faith may constitute a conversion and void the lien, such as when the amount is greater than that actually owing or includes an amount for which no hen is entitled.2 Sum. Pa.Jur. Personal Property Law, §320 (1956).

The requirement of fraud or bad faith, however, is essential before the hen is voided. A mere demand by the hen holder of an amount in excess of what is due does not waive the hen or forfeit the right to retain possession for the amount actually due where there is no fraud or bad faith. 51 Am. Jur. 2d, Liens, §50, at 185 (1965); 53 C.J.S. §17(8), p. 867 (1957); Mercer Steel Co. v. Park Construction Company, 242 Or. 596, 411 P. 2d 262, 264 (1966); First National Bank v. Britton, 185 Okla. 566, 94 P. 2d 896 (1939).

If the lien was voided automatically merely upon a later determination that the charges were unreasonable, it would place upon the lienor an undue risk of loss in consequence of what may be an honest diffference of opinion as to the amount owing and subject him 'to liability as a converter. See, Restatement of Security, §80, Comment A (1941).

The better rule, therefore, is absent fraud or bad faith the hen is not lost or reduced until a determination by judicial process of the proper amount owing.

While there is a dearth of case law in Pennsylvania on this issue, the hen law developed at common [683]*683law in the context of disputes as to the amounts charged for an artisan’s work. As seen by the origin and intended effect of the doctrine of lien, it is not the existence of a dispute as to price but the existence of fraud or bad faith which is contrary to the-purpose of the lien which voids the lien and destroys the right to retain possession.

Drake Lumber Co. v. Paget Mortgage Company, 274 P. 2d 804, 811 (Or, Sup. Ct. 1954) held that where an amount due is intentionally or through culpable negligence overstated, the entire lien is voided, whereas a mere mistake will not render the whole lien void where it is evident no fraud was intended.3 See also, Power Transmission Equipment Corp. v. Beloit Corp., 55 Wis. 2d 540, 201 N.W. 2d 13, 16 (1972); 51 Am. Jur. 2d, Liens, §50, at 185 (1965).

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27 Pa. D. & C.3d 678, 1983 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cernica-v-wagners-wheel-alinement-inc-pactcomplmercer-1983.