James Weller, Inc. v. Hansen

517 P.2d 1110, 21 Ariz. App. 217, 1973 Ariz. App. LEXIS 848
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 28, 1973
Docket1 CA-CIV 1924
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 517 P.2d 1110 (James Weller, Inc. v. Hansen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
James Weller, Inc. v. Hansen, 517 P.2d 1110, 21 Ariz. App. 217, 1973 Ariz. App. LEXIS 848 (Ark. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

STEVENS, Judge.

The issues presented to this Court are the adequacy of a notice and claim of lien and the adequacy of the service thereof.

The persons or corporations essential to this litigation are: the plaintiffs, M. Leslie Hansen and Gloria Hansen, his wife, and since all of the business transactions were conducted by Mr. Hansen, the plaintiffs will be referred to herein as Hansen; James Weller, Inc., a corporation, and since all of the business was conducted by Mr. Weller, this corporation will be referred to herein as Weller; and the Cherokee Construction Company, a corporation, herein referred to as Cherokee.

No one disputes: That there are two adjoining subdivisions, the recorded plats thereof designating them as Moon Valley and Moon Valley II; that the lots in the two subdivisions are consecutively numbered and there are no duplicate numbers; that the correct legal description of the lot in question is Lot 608 Moon Valley II, sometimes referred to herein as the lot in question; or that the correct street address thereof is 14201 North Coral Gables Drive.

Hansen, a realtor by profession, as plaintiff, filed a suit to quiet the title to the lot in question naming as defendants two separate lien claimants, one of them being Weller. The defendant lien claimants counterclaimed to foreclose their lien claims. The trial court, after a timely request, entered findings of fact and conclusions of law. The judgment quieted title in Hansen as to both lien claimants and only Weller appealed.

Rule 52(a), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S. states, in part, that on appeal “[fjindings of fact shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous * * There are numerous appellate opinions recognizing this rule.

At all times material to this litigation the applicable section of the Arizona Revised Statutes then read, in part, as follows :

“33-993. PROCEDURE TO PERFECT LIEN; NOTICE AND CLAIM OF LIEN; SERVICE; RECORDING
“In order to impress and secure the lien * * * every * * * person claiming the benefits of this article * * * shall make duplicate copies of a notice and claim of lien and record one copy with the county recorder of the county in which the property or some part thereof is located, and within a reasonable time thereafter serve the remaining copy upon the owner of the building, structure or improvement, if he can be found within the county. The notice and claim of lien * * * shall contain:
“1. A description of the lands and improvements to be charged with a lien, sufficient for identification.
“2. The name of the owner or reputed owner of the property concerned, if known, and the name of the person by whom the lienor was employed or to whom he furnished materials.
“3. A statement of the terms, time given and conditions of the contract, if it is oral, or a copy of the contract, if written.
“4. A statement of the lienor’s demand, after deducting just credits and offsets.”

CHRONOLOGY

We deem it to be appropriate to set forth an outline of the chronology. Certain of the matters set forth in this section of the opinion will be hereinafter discussed.

Prior to 13 November 1969 Cherokee owned the lot in question. On that date two instruments were signed. One was a *220 construction contract and the other was a sales agreement. 1

On 18 December 1969 four instruments were recorded as consecutive recordings. These were: a deed from Cherokee to Hansen; a mortgage wherein Hansen was the mortgagor and First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Phoenix was the mortgagee; a building and loan agreement between Hansen and First Federal providing for progress payments and reciting the sum of $35,292.20; and a deed from Hansen to Cherokee. Neither deed is in evidence, but the sequence was agreed upon. Each of these instruments described the lot in question as follows: “Lot Six Hundred Eight ■ (608) Moon Valley II * * First Federal is not a party to the law suit nor is its mortgage affected thereby.

Shortly thereafter Cherokee started construction and by oral contract Weller undertook the dry wall and painting of the residence which was being built. There were written memoranda supplementing the oral contract. The City of Phoenix issued its building permit on 22 December 1969.

The trial court found that the construction was completed on 29 April 1970.

By a deed recorded on 7 May 1970 Cherokee again deeded to Hansen.

Weller recorded a notice and claim of lien on 8 June 1970 naming Cherokee as “the owner and/or reputed owner.” Cherokee was served on 11 June 1970.

It was not until approximately 1 September 1970 that Hansen was personally served with a copy of the notice and claim of lien. The Hansen quiet title action was filed on 16 September 1970.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE DESCRIPTION

A.R.S. § 33-993(1) requires “a description of the lands * * * sufficient for identification.” The lien described the lot in question as “Lot 608, Moon Valley, 14201 N. Coral Gables Drive, Phoenix, Arizona.” The trial court’s finding of fact number seven is as follows :

“7. Weller’s Lien did not accurately describe the legal description of the property involved although it did give a proper street address.”

The trial court’s conclusion of law number two states:

“2. Weller’s Notice and Claim of Lien was improper in form and not calculated to give notice.”

\

In a construction contract dated 13 November 1969 the lot in question was described as “Lot 608 Moon Valley, Marico-pa County, also known as 14201 North Coral Gables Drive * * The sáles agreement, executed the same date, refers to the correct street address and specifies “Legal Lot 608 MV II.” It is also interesting to note that in these two documents the contracting parties were Cherokee and “M. Leslie Hansen Realty Company by M. Leslie Hansen, President.” It is further interesting to note that at the triql Hansen’s attorney questioned him with reference to “Lot 608 Moon Valley Estates II”, which caused Hansen no confusion and the same description appears in Hansen’s answering brief in this Court.

Hansen testified that after the 7 May 1970 recording of the Cherokee deed to Hansen he did not check records in the office of the County Recorder and relied upon verbal communications with a title company as to the presence of lien claims, that in this manner he became aware of several liens which he paid, and that he was not informed as to the Weller lien claim. No title company representative was called as a witness. It is difficult for this Court to see how one posting title company books to the recorded instruments would be misled under these circumstances.

While it is true, as stated in finding number seven, that the lien claim “did not accurately describe the legal de *221

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
517 P.2d 1110, 21 Ariz. App. 217, 1973 Ariz. App. LEXIS 848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-weller-inc-v-hansen-arizctapp-1973.