Union Rock & Mat. v. Scottsdale Con. Center

678 P.2d 453, 139 Ariz. 268
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedSeptember 22, 1983
Docket1 CA-CIV 6443
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 678 P.2d 453 (Union Rock & Mat. v. Scottsdale Con. Center) 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
Union Rock & Mat. v. Scottsdale Con. Center, 678 P.2d 453, 139 Ariz. 268 (Ark. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

139 Ariz. 268 (1983)
678 P.2d 453

UNION ROCK & MATERIALS CORPORATION, an Arizona Corporation, Cross-claimant/Cross-defendant Appellant,
v.
SCOTTSDALE CONFERENCE CENTER, a California limited partnership, Cross-claimant/Cross-defendant Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CIV 6443.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department D.

September 22, 1983.
Reconsideration Denied October 25, 1983.
Review Denied December 20, 1983.

*269 Evans, Kitchel & Jenckes, P.C. by Barry J. Dale, Phoenix, for cross-claimant/cross-defendant appellee.

Wentworth & Ludin by David McCord, Phoenix, for cross-claimant/cross-defendant appellant.

OPINION

EUBANK, Judge.

This appeal by Union Rock & Materials Corporation is from the summary judgment in Scottsdale Conference Center's favor holding that Union Rock's materialmen's lien was not timely filed pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-993(A). Three issues are presented in this appeal:

(1) Whether the recording of a notice of completion, which an owner may file pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-993, always gives the mechanic or materialman thirty-five days from the date of such recording in which to file a lien?
(2) Whether partial occupation or use of a building by an owner constitutes "completion" under A.R.S. § 33-993(B)(2)?
(3) Whether appellant has preserved for appeal its arguments regarding equitable estoppel and illegality?

We decide the above issues in favor of the appellee Scottsdale Conference Center and affirm the judgment.

The underlying facts of this matter are not in dispute. Appellant Union Rock & Materials Corporation (Union Rock) supplied materials to a subcontractor working on the Casitas, part of a resort hotel complex which is, in turn, owned by appellee Scottsdale Conference Center (SCC). Union Rock had no contract with the SCC but had a contract with the subcontractor to supply it with materials. The subcontractor did not pay Union Rock for the materials it provided.

The Casitas consists of sixty guest rooms. Five rooms were first occupied by guests on February 3, 1980. One or more of the rooms were also occupied on February 4-8 and on February 11, 1980. The other rooms were gradually opened to guests after February 11, 1980. From February 3, 1980, to and including February 18, 1980, the Casitas recorded forty "guest nights," i.e., a guest or guests staying in one room for one night.

On April 9, 1980, SCC recorded a "notice of completion" for the Casitas project in the Maricopa County Recorder's Office, as authorized by A.R.S. § 33-993. On or about April 10, 1980, Union Rock's credit manager read in the Record Reporter of the recording of the notice of completion. On April 21, 1980, Union Rock filed a notice and claim of lien on the Casitas property for the materials supplied to the subcontractor for which it had not been paid.

During the course of litigation concerning multiple parties, Union Rock filed a cross-claim against SCC based on its asserted materialmen's lien and on the theory of unjust enrichment. SCC answered the cross-claim and then filed a cross-claim *270 against Union Rock to quiet title to the Casitas. SCC moved for summary judgment which was granted by minute entry dated November 17, 1980. The first trial judge thereafter resigned and the case was reassigned to another judge.

On September 28, 1981, Union Rock filed a motion to reconsider the summary judgment. No final judgment had been entered at that time. The second judge declined to consider the motion for reconsideration, and denied it by minute entry dated January 18, 1982. Final judgment was entered on February 10, 1982. No motion for new trial was filed, and Union Rock timely appealed from the judgment to this court.

THE NOTICE OF COMPLETION

Appellant's argument as to the first issue is that the recording of a notice of completion by an owner unconditionally gives the lien claimant thirty-five days, following the filing, in which to file his lien, without regard to the date of completion of the project. We disagree.

A.R.S. § 33-993(A) provides in relevant part:

In order to impress and secure the lien provided for in this article ... every other person [other than an original contractor] claiming the benefits of this article, within sixty days after the completion of a building, structure or improvement, or any alteration or repair of such building, structure or improvement, or if a notice of completion has been recorded, within thirty-five days after recordation of such notice, 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 of the property is located, and within a reasonable time thereafter serve the remaining copy upon the owner....

Appellant argues that the statute gives the lien-claimant a choice of either filing within sixty days after completion, or filing thirty-five days after recording of the notice of completion. § 33-993(A), read by itself, would strongly support such an argument.

However, § 33-993(A) must be read in conjunction with A.R.S. § 33-993(C), which was enacted in the same amendment. See Laws of 1979, Ch. 202, § 3. It provides in part:

For the purposes of this section, "notice of completion" means a written notice which the owner or his agent may elect to record at any time after completion of construction ... for the purpose of shortening the lien period, as provided in Subsection A of this section ... (Emphasis added).

Thus, it is clear from reading A.R.S. § 33-993(C) that the legislature intended to only allow the recording of a notice of completion to shorten the lien filing period, not extend it. The fundamental rule in the interpretation of a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the legislature's intent, e.g., DeWitt v. Magma Copper Co., 16 Ariz. App. 305, 492 P.2d 1243 (1972).

As noted by Union Rock, the statutory scheme does indeed allow for a superfluous act in the situation where the owner files the notice of completion more than twenty-five days after "completion"[1] as defined by the statute. In such a circumstance, the sixty day period may have run. However, it is for the legislature, not the courts, *271 to re-write the statute. We conclude, therefore, that Union Rock's lien was not timely recorded if it was recorded after the expiration of sixty days from completion of Casitas, even though it was recorded within thirty-five days of the recording of the owner's notice of completion.

COMPLETION

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
678 P.2d 453, 139 Ariz. 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/union-rock-mat-v-scottsdale-con-center-arizctapp-1983.