Curtis v. Sestanovich

37 P. 67, 26 Or. 107, 1894 Ore. LEXIS 76
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 5, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 37 P. 67 (Curtis v. Sestanovich) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curtis v. Sestanovich, 37 P. 67, 26 Or. 107, 1894 Ore. LEXIS 76 (Or. 1894).

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Moore.

1. The statute (section 3673, Hill’s Code,) requires the claimant, in his notice of lien, to state the name of the owner of the building sought to be charged with the lien. The authorities are unanimous in support of the doctrine that what the statute requires in order to perfect the lien is a condition precedent, and must be complied with before the lien can attach to any property. The lien begins with the commencement of the construction of the building, grows with its growth, and ripens with its completion; but, however equitable the claim may be, it does not attach to the building unless the claimant, within the time prescribed by law, prepares and files a notice thereof containing all the statutory requirements. When the lien once attaches to the building, it, by relation, also attaches to whatever interest the owner of the building has in the soil that supports it, if it appears from the notice that the owner of the building has some interest therein. “It is, ” says Strahan, C. J., in Kezartee v. Marks, 15 Or. 535, 16 Pac. 407, “the owner of ‘such building or other improvements’ whose name must be specified in the notice, and not the owner of the land where the same is erected.” In Gordon v. Deal, 23 Or. 154, 31 Pac. 287, Bean, J., in discussing this question, says: “It is not sufficient that the [116]*116name of the owner appears in the lien incidentally, or as part of the description of the property, but that he is the owner of the building sought to be charged must appear on the face of the lien as an independent matter, either directly or by necessary inference.” The statute of California (section 1157, Code of Civil Procedure,) requires the lien claimant to state in his notice the name of the owner or reputed owner, if known. In Russ Lumper Company v. Garrettson, 87 Cal. 589, 25 Pac. 747, the lien claimant had stated in his notice that Garrettson was the owner of a lot, giving its description, and that he entered into a written contract with Wanberg & Nelson, by which they agreed to erect and finish for him a building on said lot. It was contended that the claim of lien was defective in that it did not state the name of the owner of the building. The court in that case, in answer to the objection, says: “The above seems to be a sufficient statement that Garrettson was, the owner of the building, which was erected for him on his land, and that the materials were furnished to Wanberg & Nelson, his contractors. To say that the name of the owner of the building, and the names of the persons to whom the materials were furnished, are matters of mere inference, since it does not necessarily follow that the owner of the land is the owner of the building, and the materials might have been furnished to a subcontractor, or other persons, seems to us to be not even a plausible argument.” The notice in the case at bar distinctly states that the building was erected for John Hughes upon real property owned by him. If it had stated that it was erected for some other person on Hughes’ land, there then might be some question as to the ownership of the building. A house is presumed to be attached to the land upon which it is erected (Northrup v. Trash, 39 Wis. 515); and had Hughes conveyed said real property, there can be no doubt from the statement con[117]*117tained in the notice that the brick building erected thereon would have passed to the grantee under the deed. We think that while it is not stated in positive and direct terms that Hughes was the owner of the building, it is necessarily implied from the notice of lien that he was such owner. The statement that the claimant furnished materials to be used, and which were used, in erecting a building for John Hughes upon real property owned by him, is equivalent to saying that John Hughes owned the building.

2. The statute (section 3678, Hill’s Code,) also requires the lien claimant to state in his notice the name of the person to whom he furnished the materials. This is one of the essential requisites of the notice, and must be complied with before the lien can attach: Rankin v. Malarkey, 23 Or. 593, 32 Pac. 620, 34 Pac. 816; Dillon v. Hart, 25 Or. 49, 34 Pac. 817. It is averred in the notice that the claimant furnished materials to be used in the construction of a brick building, etc., and, in a subsequent clause, that the materials so furnished to said Sestanovich and others, and used in said building, consisted of pressed brick and terra cotta. The notice might have stated the fact in more direct terms, but it is quite evident from an inspection of the instrument that the materials were delivered to Sestanovieh and others. No other possible conclusion is deducible from the statement, and hence it complies with the statutory requirement.

3. The contractual relation existing between the owner of the building and the person having charge of the construction thereof should be stated in the notice, when the labor has been done or the materials have been furnished at the instance of any other person than the owner: 2 Jones on Liens, § 1392; Rankin v. Malarkey, 23 Or. 593, 32 Pac. 620, 34 Pac. 816; Warren v. Quade, 3 Wash. 750, 29 Pac. 827; Heald v. Hodder, 5 Wash. 677, 32 Pac. 728. It is by [118]*118virtue of this relation that the agent has authority to bind the property of his principal for labor done and material furnished in the construction, alteration, or repair of buildings: Hill’s Code, § 8669. And since the notice should show a prima facie right to the lien, it is essential to its validity that the relation existing between the parties should appear on the face of the instrument, either directly or by necessary inference. The notice in the case at bar states that Sestanovich and others were the original contractors, and had a contract for the construction of a building for John Hughes. It is not averred in the notice that said contract was made with Hughes, but we think it is reasonably inferred therefrom. If the notice had alleged that Sestanovich and others were subcontractors, it would not have followed that the contract had been made with Hughes, but having alleged that they were original contractors for the erection of a building for John Hughes, they must necessarily have made a contract with him, and hence the relation of the parties is necessarily inferred from the instrument.

4. Our attention has been particularly called to the fact that the notice does not contain an itemized statement of the demand, including the dates when said material was furnished. The statute (section 3673) requires the claimant to file with the county clerk a claim containing a true statement of his demand after deducting all just credits and offsets. In Ainslie v. Kohn, 16 Or. 363, 19 Pac. 97, it was held that the words ‘ ‘ a claim containing a true statement of his demand” did not imply that it should be an itemized statement. In Willamette Falls Company v. Smith, 1 Or. 181, it was held that a complaint in a suit to foreclose a mechanics’ lien should show the dates when the materials were furnished. In the case at bar it is alleged in the complaint that by virtue of a contract entered into between the Pacific Builders’ Supply Company and Sestanovich [119]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
37 P. 67, 26 Or. 107, 1894 Ore. LEXIS 76, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curtis-v-sestanovich-or-1894.