National Permanent Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Virginia Concrete Co.

412 F. Supp. 667, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15204
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedMay 7, 1976
DocketNo. 74-631-A
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 412 F. Supp. 667 (National Permanent Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Virginia Concrete Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Permanent Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Virginia Concrete Co., 412 F. Supp. 667, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15204 (E.D. Va. 1976).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CLARKE, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on appeal from the determinations of the Bankruptcy Judge. Thomas A. Cary, Inc., was a general contractor, for a subdivision located at Section 2, Treeside, Herndon, Virginia. Memoranda of mechanic’s liens were filed by Virginia Concrete Company, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Virginia Concrete”), and Riley Building Supply, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Riley”), pursuant to Virginia statutory requirements.

In June of 1974, Thomas A. Cary, Inc., the developer of Treeside II, executed several deeds of trust to National Permanent Federal Savings & Loan Association (hereinafter referred to as “National Permanent”) to secure the payment of deed of trust notes. Prior to the lien filings, Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Lawyers Title”) issued title insurance binders to National Permanent which contained mechanic’s liens exceptions. However, at a subsequent time, Lawyers Title removed the mechanic’s liens [669]*669exception on twenty-five (25) of the lots before these liens were filed.

Plaintiffs-Appellants, National Permanent Federal Savings & Loan Association and Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation designate the following issues for review on appeal:

(1) Did the Bankruptcy Judge err in finding that the defendant was entitled to file a joint or blanket mechanic’s lien on the entire subdivision in the instant case under the mechanic’s lien laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia?
(2) Did the Bankruptcy Judge err in his finding that the defendant’s lien was not forfeited in accordance with Section 43-23.1 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended?
(3) Do the mechanic’s lien laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia violate the due process and equal protection provisions of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Virginia, thereby rendering the defendant’s lien constitutionally invalid?

The Court will treat the first and second issues together and consider the third issue on its own merits. The constitutionality of the mechanic’s lien statute will be discussed first because if the Court finds that the statute does not meet constitutional muster, then it will be unnecessary to decide the viability of joint liens.

The Court is compelled to accept the Bankruptcy Judge’s findings of fact unless the findings are clearly erroneous. Rule 810, Federal Rules of Bankruptcy. The first two issues contain mixed conclusions of fact and law. Both Virginia Concrete and Riley are defendants-appellees. Their cases will be discussed together. Factual variances peculiar to each defendant-appellee which may affect the outcome will be noted.

I

The Unconstitutionality of the Virginia Mechanic Lien Statute

National Permanent and Lawyers Title challenge the constitutionality of the Virginia mechanic’s lien statute, Section 43-3, Code of Virginia (1950, as amended), on the grounds that it violates the due process clause and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The rights and relationship between debtors and creditors have been extensively analyzed in recent years by the United States Supreme Court. Commencing with Sniadach v. Family Finance Corporation, 395 U.S. 337, 89 S.Ct. 1820, 23 L.Ed.2d 349 (1969), the Supreme Court entered into the finance and debt area. The Court concluded that a Wisconsin law was unconstitutional that permitted the garnishment of wages or salary without prior notice or hearing and without an opportunity for the debtor to free the assets until after the ease was decided on the merits. In Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972), the Court held that Florida and Pennsylvania statutes providing for writs of replevin violated the Fourteenth Amendment because the statutes did not require notice and a hearing prior to the issuance of the replevin writs. The Fuentes Court stated that procedural due process protections attach whenever any significant property interest is involved. The third decision in this line of eases was Mitchell v. W. T. Grant, 416 U.S. 600, 94 S.Ct. 1895, 40 L.Ed.2d 406 (1974). Mitchell involved a vendor’s lien. The Court reasoned that a Louisiana statute permitting a judge to issue, without prior notice and hearing, a writ of sequestration based on vendor’s lien adequately balanced the interest of creditor and debtor satisfying the requirements of due process. In the last term, the Supreme Court held unconstitutional on due process grounds a Georgia statute that allowed a clerk to issue a writ of garnishment affecting a corporate bank account on the basis of an affidavit containing only conclusory allegations entitling the creditor to a writ. North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 419 U.S. 601, 95 S.Ct. 719, 42 L.Ed.2d 751 (1975).

The mechanic’s lien statutes of other states have been challenged and, in most decisions, have been held constitutional.

[670]*670The Supreme Court has not addressed the constitutionality of mechanic’s liens. Recently, the Court granted certiorari and vacated the judgment of the Connecticut Supreme Court decision that its mechanic’s lien statute was unconstitutional. The judgment was vacated for a determination whether the Connecticut decision was based on the Connecticut or United States Constitutions. Roundhouse Construction Corporation v. Telesco Masons Supplies Co., 423 U.S. 809, 96 S.Ct. 20, 46 L.Ed.2d 29, 44 U.S.L.W. 3199 (October 7, 1975).

The leading ease involved a challenge to the mechanic’s lien statute of Arizona. Spielman-Ford, Inc. v. Hanson’s, Inc., 379 F.Supp. 997 (D.Ariz.1973), aff’med 417 U.S. 901, 94 S.Ct. 2596, 41 L.Ed.2d 208 (1974). In Spielman, materialmen recorded liens on a mobile home park after they had provided labor and supplies and had not been paid. The owners of the mobile home park sought a declaration from a three-judge court that the mechanic’s lien statute violated its constitutional right of due process.1 The challengers argued that the filing and recordation of a lien without prior notice or hearing prohibits the property owner’s right to alienate freely. The property owners reasoned that this was a “significant property interest” within the terms of Fuentes, supra, and thus requires the panoply of rights afforded by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The three-judge District Court disagreed. In contrast to Sniadach, Fuentes, and Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970), the Court held that the property owners had not been deprived of possession or use of their property. The property owners were permitted to have continuous possession and enjoyment of their property.

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Related

Northwest Federal Savings & Loan v. Tiffany Construction Co.
761 P.2d 174 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)
In Re Thomas A. Cary, Inc.
412 F. Supp. 667 (E.D. Virginia, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
412 F. Supp. 667, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-permanent-federal-savings-loan-assn-v-virginia-concrete-co-vaed-1976.