Subject property.-The building or improvement and the interest of the owner in the lot or land upon which it stands or is made; a boat or vessel; mines and the rights of the owners or lessees, together with the personal property used in the conduct of their business; roads, railroads, street railways, canal, or public works; the real property of persons, companies, or corporations engaged in farming, mining, manufacturing, etc.

Amount of lien.-Liens are not to exceed in amount the sum due on the original contract, but payments made subsequently to notice given shall not limit the lien.

Contract. Contracts may be expressed or implied, with the owner, part owner, or lessee of realty, or with his authorized agent.

Notice-Claimants other than a principal contractor may, before beginning the undertaking or at any time within ninety days after the completion thereof, serve notice on the owner of their contract or service, and payments made to the original contractor after the service of such notice will be at the owner's risk. The owner must inform the contractor that he has received such notice, and unless the claim is disputed within five days, payments made to the claimant are to be considered as part payments to the contractor.

Claimants of liens on railroad must notify the company of such claims within ten days after filing, and every contractor or subcontractor may have five days in which to examine all such claims before they are paid.

Filing. Claims for liens must, in general, be filed within four months from the time of performing the labor or furnishing the material, together with a copy of the contract, if it was in writing; claims against railroads, street railways, turnpikes, canals, etc., and against public structures must be filed within thirty days.

Limitation.-Liens on real estate and improvements continue for six years from the date of filing, unless sooner discharged. An owner may require prosecution within sixty days from the giving of notice.

Liens for street, road, or drainage improvements, for labor or supplies furnished railroads, etc., and for manual labor in agriculture, mining, or manufacturing expire within one year unless enforcement proceedings are begun in that period.

If a railroad contractor disputes the claim of a laborer or subcontractor, such claim must be proceeded on within forty days after the claimant is notified that his claim is disputed.

Rank. The liens on real estate attach from the date of the first item of labor performed, and no homestead or other exemption shall avail against them.

As among themselves, liens of the same class are without priority. Liens on railroad property are classed as follows: First, to persons performing labor or furnishing materials or board on the order of any contractor or subcontractor; second, to subcontractors; third, to contractors.

Sources: Annotated Statutes of 1900, sections 3184 to 3211, 3231-1 to 3231-5, 5880; Acts of 1902, pages 209, 608.

OKLAHOMA.

For what given.-For furnishing materials for the erection, alteration, or repair of any building, improvement, or structure on land; for furnishing or performing labor in putting up any fixtures, machinery, or attachment in or to any such building, structure, or improvement; for planting trees, vines, plants, or hedge; for building, altering, or repairing any fence or walk, street, or sidewalk upon or about a tract of land, or furnishing labor or material therefor; provided that the erection or construction of any lightning rod or rods shall not give a lien; for making, altering, repairing, or caring for any article of personal property; for service on any vessel.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, artisans, mechanics, material men, and boatmen.

Subject property.-The building and appurtenances and the whole of the piece or tract of land upon which it or they may be or be placed; vessels and freightage.

Amount of lien. -The amount of any contract, or the principal and interest of any note given therefor; the value of the services rendered; but no total may exceed the amount of an original contract.

Contract.-The contract must be with the owner of the land, or with the trustee, agent, husband, or wife of such owner. Contracts with contractors and subcontractors are binding on the realty. Work on articles of personal property must be done at the request of the owner or legal possessor.

Conditions. Taking notes does not impair the claim for a lien.

Notice. Claimants other than original contractors must notify the owner when a lien claim is filed.

Personal property retained for two months may be sold at auction after ten days' public notice.

Filing.-Contractors must file their claims within four months and other claimants within sixty days after the completion of the services for which lien is claimed; and until the expiration of said sixty days the risk of payments to the original contractor shall be upon the owner and no suit can be brought against him by such contractor to enforce his claims.

Limitation.-Action must be brought to enforce the lien within one year from the date of its filing; or, if a note was given, within one year from the maturity of the note.

Rank. These liens are to be preferred to all incumbrances attaching to the land or improvements subsequently to the commencement of the undertaking on which the lien claim is based.

Source: Statutes of 1893, sections 3210, 3214, 3219, 4527 to 4538.

OREGON.

For what given. For performing labor upon or furnishing, transporting, or hauling material for the construction, alteration, or repair, either in whole or in part, of any building, wharf, bridge, ditch, flume, tunnel, fence, machinery, or aqueduct, or any structure or superstructure; for grading, filling in, or otherwise improving any lot in any incorporated city or town, or the street in front of or adjoining the same; for furnishing labor or materials to any contractor of a railroad corporation, or in the working or developing of any mine or mining claim; for clearing, ditching, diking, or tiling any land; for securing or obtaining saw logs, spars, piles, or other timber, including services as cook in a logging camp; for performing labor or assisting in the manufacture of timber into lumber; for services on board any vessel, or for labor or materials furnished in building, repairing, fitting, furnishing, or equipping such boat or vessel; for making, altering, repairing, or bestowing labor upon any article of personal property; for shoeing any horse, mule, ox, or other animal; for performing work and labor upon, or assisting in the construction, maintenance, repair, working, running, or operating of any fishing boat, net, or device, or in the taking, catching, capturing, or transporting of fish.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, material men, mechanics, artisans, machinists, builders, teamsters, laborers, miners, loggers, cooks in logging camps, horseshoers, seamen, and fishermen.

Subject property.-The improvement and the land upon which it is constructed together with a convenient space about the same, or so much as may be required for the convenient use and occupation thereof, to the extent of the owner's interest therein; the lot graded or otherwise improved; the property, real, personal, and mixed, of a railroad corporation; lands cleared, ditched, etc.; any mine, lode, or mining claim; timber, lumber, and articles of personal property; horses or other animals shod; boats or vessels; fishing gear, nets, etc.; fish caught within six months prior to the filing of the claim.

Amount of lien.-In general, for the value of the work done or materials furnished, the aggregate not to exceed the sum of the original contract. A contractor's lien must not exceed in amount the sum named in his contract, minus all claims of subcontractors, etc. Horseshoers' and fishermen's liens and liens of lumbermen and sawmill employees may cover services rendered for not more than six months prior to the filing of the claim. The amount of a fisherman's lien must not exceed the market value of the fish taken during the period for which the lien is claimed, minus rentals owed, if any.

Contract.-Services on buildings, etc., may be rendered at the instance of the owner or his agent, including thereunder every contractor, subcontractor, architect, builder, or other person in charge of the undertaking. Knowledge that an improvement is being made will bind the owner unless he gives notice to the contrary within three days.

The improvements of lots and lands and services as to personal property must be at the request of the owner or person in lawful possession. Contracts with the lessee of a mine shall not bind the owner thereof.

Work on timber and lumber, and in the taking, etc., of fish may be done at the instance of the owner or his agent.

Notice. Subcontractors, laborers, etc., in order to enforce a lien on a railroad company's property, must inform such company of their claims within twenty days after the completion of the subcontract or labor. Personal property held under lien may be sold after three months on three weeks' public notice.

Filing.-No lien affects the title of registered land until it is filed. Original contractors have sixty days and other claimants thirty days after the completion of their services in which to file their claims.

Liens for clearing lands, ditching, etc., for mine labor, and for shoeing horses must be filed within sixty days, and liens on timber and lumber and for fishing, within thirty days after the close of the rendition of services.

Limitation.-Liens on lands and buildings, etc., and on mines must be enforced within six months from the filing thereof; or if credit was given, within six months from the expiration of such credit; but no lien may continue longer than two years. Liens on lands for clearing, on timber and lumber, and on fishing gear expire unless enforced within six months. Liens on boats and vessels for services or supplies continue for one year.

Rank.-Liens on land and improvements created by this law are preferred to any other incumbrance attaching subsequently to the beginning of the undertaking for which the lien was given; also to any earlier unrecorded lien or incumbrance. They are also superior, as to the buildings or improvements only, to mortgages or other incumbrances on the land on which the improvement was made or erected.

The liens of others than contractors and subcontractors are to be first paid in full, then those of subcontractors, and lastly those of contractors, those in each class sharing pro rata, if funds be not sufficient for full payment.

Liens of subcontractors and laborers on railroads take no priority over existing liens.

Liens on logs and lumber and on fishing gear are prior to any and all other liens, and no assignment of subject property may divert them.

Liens on vessels for services on board thereof are superior to those granted for repair, equipping, etc.

Sources: Codes and Statutes of 1902, sections 5482, 5640 to 5654, 5663 to 5698, 5706, 5707, 5722; Acts of 1903, page 121.

PENNSYLVANIA.

For what given.-For debts due the contractor or subcontractor for the erection, construction, or removal of any structure or other improvement on real estate, the addition thereto, or the alteration and repair thereof, and of outhouses, sidewalks, yards, fences, walls, or other enclosure; and for the fitting up or equipping of the same including paper-hanging, grates, furnaces, engines, boilers, etc., gas and electric pipes, wires, and fixtures; for equipment with machinery or other useful appliances of new or old structures or other improvements, for business purposes; but repairs or equipment of old buildings must exceed $100 in value, to give a lien; for debts for rails, ties, pipes, poles, and wires, and the excavation for and laying and relaying, stringing and restringing, or erecting the same. The act relates to any building, bridge, wharf, pier, vault, subway, tramway, toll road, conduit, tunnel, mine, coal breaker, pipe line, reservoir, viaduct, telegraph or telephone lines, railroad, canal, mill race, works for supplying water, heat, light, power, cold air, or other substance; oil, gas, or other well; or other structure or improvement of whatsoever kind or character; but no lien shall be allowed for labor or materials furnished for purely public purposes. Liens are given for services on board ships and vessels, and for work done and materials furnished in building, repairing, fitting, furnishing, or equipping the same.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, and material men; boatmen on the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers; tradesmen and mechanics furnishing labor or materials on ships or vessels.

Subject property.-Every structure or other improvement and the curtilage appurtenant thereto, such as is reasonably needed for the general purpose for which the structure or improvement was made, and belonging to the same owner; ships and vessels, their tackle, furniture, and apparel.

Amount of lien.-The amount of the debt or contract. Where payments are to be made only at times stated and due notice is given, a subcontractor's lien may not exceed the balance of the contract price unpaid or which should have remained unpaid at the time of the notice of intention to claim a lien. Liens for boatmen's wages may cover a period of not more than three months.

Contract.-A contract by a tenant will not bind the estate of an owner unless it shall appear in writing signed by the owner that the improvement was in fact made for his use and benefit. An owner who knowingly suffers or permits any person acting as if he were the owner to make a contract without objecting thereto at the time, is to be considered as ratifying such act; likewise if on subsequently learning of work being done on his property, he fails to repudiate the contract within ten days thereafter.

Debts on vessels may be contracted by the masters, owners, agents, consignees, and clerks.

H. Doc. 733, 58-2- -6

Conditions.-The right to file a claim may be waived by agreement, or by conduct which amounts to an equitable estoppel. As against a subcontractor, the only admissible evidence of such waiver is proof of actual notice before the beginning of work, or proof that a contract providing for waiver had been duly filed.

Where a credit postpones a settlement for a period exceeding six months after the completion of an undertaking, the contractor must give actual notice thereof to his subcontractors, failing which, the contract is rescinded and the claimant may have his pro rata recovery by lien or otherwise for the work done up to the time of rescission.

The giving of credit or taking of notes does not invalidate the lien, but only delays proceedings until the expiration of such credit.

Notice. No subcontractor can claim a lien for repairing or equipping any old building unless he gives notice to the owner or some proper person for him, of his intention so to do, on or before the day he completes his work or furnishes his last materials. In other cases the subcontractor must give notice of such intention and of the amount of his claim at least one month before the claim is filed, and within three months after the completion of his undertaking, if he has six months in which to file his claim, or within forty-five days if he has but three months in which to file it. But if the subcontractor is under rule to file his claim at an earlier date, no notice is required. After notice received, the owner may serve a copy thereof on the contractor or other party liable with notice that the claim must be settled or disputed within fifteen days, failing which he may pay the same on such contractor's account; or the owner may withhold the sum from the contractor until the claim is determined.

Where labor or materials are furnished for purely public improvements, the subcontractor may notify the proper authorities of his claim, whereupon the balance due the contractor may be paid into a court of common pleas for proper distribution. Filing. In cases of tenancies and leasehold estates and of alterations and repairs and of fitting up or equipping old structures with machinery, etc., lien claims must be filed within three months and in other cases within six months after the completion of the claimant's contract. An owner may require filing within fifteen days from the giving of notice.

Limitation. Within one month after the filing of a claim, notice must be given the owner of such act, a failure to do which affords sufficient ground for striking off the claim. Proceedings to enforce must be begun within two years unless before the end of that time the owner waives the necessity for so doing for a period not exceeding three years, and a verdict must be recovered or judgment entered within five years after the issue of the writ beginning proceedings.

Liens for the construction and repair of ships, etc., continue until the departure of such ships on their next succeeding voyage, and no longer.

Liens on vessels on the Ohio and its tributaries for wages of boatmen must be enforced within sixty days after the coming due of the wages claimed; those for supplies, equipment, etc., must be proceeded on within two years.

Rank.-Liens on real estate for alterations, repairs, etc., take effect as of the date of filing and are to be preferred to any charge or lien of which the claimant had not actual or constructive notice at that time, except municipal or tax claims and legal exemptions. Conveyances in good faith and for value defeat a lien not yet filed. In other cases the lien relates back to the time of the visible commencement upon the ground of the work of the building or other improvement. Prior liens on land relate only to its value before the erection, etc., of the improvements, as to which the mechanic's lien is preferred.

Subcontractors' claims are superior to those of contractors. Wages of boatmen take priority over other claims on steamboats, etc.

Sources: Brightly's Purdon's Digest, 1895, p. 145; Brightly's Digest, 1903, p. 412.

RHODE ISLAND.

For what given.-For work done and materials used in the construction, erection, or repair of any building, canal, railroad, turnpike, or other improvement; for work and labor, care and diligence, or money expended on or about personal property. Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, material` men, laborers, and mechanics.

Subject property.-The building or other improvement, and so much of the land and its appurtenances under and adjoining such improvement and belonging to the owner thereof as the claimant may choose to describe in his commencement of legal process. Only the interest of the contracting party is affected, whether leasehold, fee, or other interest.

All machinery and fixtures are included with any mill or other building.
Personal property of any kind is subject to lien.

Amount of lien.-The amount of the contract or the value of the services rendered. Where the completion of a contract is interfered with by legal proceedings affecting the property, the contractor may cease and recover the full value of the work done or materials furnished.

Contract.-The work may be done by contract with or at the request of the owner, or of the husband of the owner with the consent of his wife in writing; or of a lessee or tenant, or holder of some other interest; or by contract with or at the request of a contractor. Contracts as to personal property may be express or implied.

Notice. A subcontractor has no lien for materials furnished unless within sixty days after such materials are delivered he gives notice to the owner of his intention to claim a lien. Subcontractors claiming liens for labor must give notice to the owner within thirty days after the commencement thereof.

Filing. Subcontractors claiming liens for materials must file such claims within sixty days after delivery.

Limitation.-Liens for services performed under a written contract must be enforced within four months from the time that any payment shall become due and remain unpaid. If there was no written contract, proceedings must be begun within six months from the commencement of the services for which the lien is claimed.

Rank. The liens herein provided for stand before any other lien which originates subsequently to the commencement of the undertaking for which the lien is given. Source: General Laws of 1896, chapter 206.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

For what given.-For labor performed or furnished or for materials furnished and actually used in the erection, alteration, or repair of any building or structure on real estate; or in the construction, repair, or launching of any vessel; or in the construction, alteration, or repair of any railroad; or for labor on farms, or in factories, mines, mills, distilleries, and all and every kind of manufacturing establishment; or for the repair of any article of personal property left at the shop of a mechanic.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, material men, laborers, mechanics, and factory employees.

Subject property. The building or structure and the interest of the owner thereof in the lot of land upon which the same is situated; the fund received by any contractor for the erection, etc., of any building or structure; vessels with tackle and furniture; any railroad and all the interests of the owner therein; farm crops; the output of any mine, factory, etc.; any article of personal property.

Amount of lien.-The debt and costs; wages due, or value of services rendered; but no aggregate of subcontractors' liens may exceed the amount of the lien of the original contractor. Where a contract can not be completed because of default of the owner, recovery may be had for the proportionate value of the work actually performed.

Contract.-Services are to be rendered by virtue of an agreement with or by consent of the owner of any building or structure; or of a contract, express or implied, with the owners of a vessel, or with their agents, contractors, or subcontractors; or with the owner or person or corporation controlling and operating any railroad; or by contract, written or unwritten, with an employer in a mill, factory, etc.

Notice.-Before performing labor or furnishing materials subcontractors are required to give notice to owners, and also to original contractors, of an intention to claim a lien.

Ninety days after written notice to the owner, and after proceedings had, personal property may be sold at auction by a trial justice after fifteen days' public notice. Filing.-Lien claims affecting realty or vessels must be filed within ninety days after the completion of the claimant's undertaking.

Limitation.-Liens affecting buildings, etc., and railroads must be proceeded on by suit within six months after the completion of work thereon by the person making the claim.

Rank.-Mechanics' liens are of no avail as against mortgages actually existing and recorded prior to the date of the lien claimants' contract; nor against an attachment existing at the time of the filing of the claim. Claimants having equal rights share pro rata.

Claims on vessels for construction, repair, or launching are preferred to all other claims except for mariners' wages. Claimants on liens for labor receive a percentage on their respective claims one-third greater than those whose liens are for materials, stores, etc.

Farm laborers' liens are superior to all claims except those of the landlord for rent. Liens of factory employees are subordinate only to liens for taxes.

Source: Code of 1902, sections 1739, 3008 to 3060,3069, 3070.