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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, page 145; Brightly's Digest, 1903, page 412; Acts of 1905, act No. 126.

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 without written contract unless within sixty days after such materials are delivered he gives notice to the owner of his intention to claim a lien. Contractors and subcontractors claiming liens for labor must give notice to the owner within forty days after the performance thereof.

Filing. Subcontractors claiming liens for materials must file such claims within sixty days after delivery. Liens for labor must be filed within ten days after the giving of notice.

Limitation.-Liens for services must be enforced within four months from the time of the giving of notice.

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.

Sources: General Laws of 1896, chapter 206; Acts of 1906, chapter 1325.

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 ves

sel: 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 renCered; 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 of 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. Sources: Code of 1902, sections 1739, 3008 to 3060, 3069, 3070; Criminal Code, section 338.

SOUTH DAKOTA.

For what given.-For doing any labor upon, or furnishing any materials, machinery, or fixtures for any building, erection, or other improvement upon land, including the construction or repair, of any work of internal improvement; for performing any labor or furnishing any materials or machinery for or about any lode, lead, ledge or mine, oil well or springs; for making, altering, or repairing any article of personal property; for services on board any vessel. No lien is allowed for furnishing lightning rods, or for the construction or repair of any work for any county or municipal or public school corporation.

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

Subject property.-The building or improvement and the land belonging to the owner upon which the same is situated to the extent of such owner's interest therein; a railroad erection, excavation, embankment, bridge, roadbed, or right of way, and the land upon which the same may be situated; any lode, lead, mine, oil well or spring, or any work or improvement made in connection with the workings of any mine; vessels and freightage; any article of personal property; the funds of any public corporation due or to become due under a contract for labor or materials.

Amount of lien.-The amount of a contract or the value of labor and materials furnished. Subcontractors may recover no greater amount than the owner's liability to the contractor at the time the work claimed for was done. In the case of miners' liens, the subcontractor may recover no more than the balance due the contractor at the time that notice was given.

Contract.-Work must be done by virtue of a contract with an owner, his agent, trustee, contractor, or subcontractor. Contracts for mine labor may be either express or implied. Work on personal property is to be undertaken at the request of the owner or legal possessor.

Conditions. The taking of any collateral security on the same contract destroys the right to a mechanic's lien.

Notice. Subcontractors claiming liens must give notice thereof to the owner or his agent and to the contractor, when such claim is filed. If a contractor refuses to sign a statement of work done by a subcontractor, the latter may present such statement to the owner or his agent, which act affords a justification to the owner in withholding from the contractor a sufficient sum to meet the claim thus made. Miners, etc., claiming liens may notify the owner that money due them is unpaid, whereupon the owner is required to notify the contractor of such claim and also to retain out of the next payment due the contractor a sum sufficient to discharge the debt or debts for the benefit of the person giving the notice.

Claimants of a lien on the fund payable for the construction of any public work must make such claim within twenty days after the performance of the undertaking for which the lien is sought. Failure to submit the claim within the time fixed does not defeat the lien as to any sum remaining unpaid at the time the claim is presented. All liens attach from the time of filing.

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

Filing.-Liens of mine and railway laborers, etc., must be filed within sixty days after the completion of the work or other service for which the lien is claimed. Claimants of liens on buildings and other improvements have four months in which to file liens, except in cases where a contractor has refused to sign the statement of account of a subcontractor and such statement has been presented to the owner, when the lien must be filed within thirty days after such notice.

Limitation.-A lien is not extinguished by the mere lapse of the time within ̧ which an action can be brought upon the principal obligation, but an owner may require prosecution of a lien claim within thirty days by giving written notice to that effect.

Miners' liens continue for a term of one year. Liens on a public improvement fund must be enforced by action brought within thirty days after the acceptance of the work for which they are claimed.

Rank. The liens herein given are prior to all incumbrances attaching to either building or land subsequently to the beginning of the work. They are also superior, as to the building or improvement, to any earlier incumbrance on the land. Similar liens share ratably without regard to the order of filing.

Miners' liens are superior to every other lien except those of the State or of the United States.

Sources: Revised Codes of 1903; Political Code, sections 2573 to 2580; Civil Code, sections 2039, 2157 to 2162; Code of Civil Procedure, sections 695 to 721.

TENNESSEE.

For what given.-For doing the work or any part thereof, or furnishing the materials or any part thereof in the construction or repair of a house, the furnishing or erection of machinery or fixtures, or the making of improvements; for work done or materials furnished for the grading of a railroad, the construction and repair of its culverts and bridges, the laying of its track, the erection of depots, platforms, stations, machine shops, or other buildings, for the delivery of materials therefor, or for engineering or superintendence connected therewith; for work or materials furnished on or about the building, repairing, fitting, furnishing, or equipping of any steam or keel boat; for labor and service performed for any partnership, corporation, or individual merchant; for work on any article of personal property done by artisans who do work for the public. Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, machinists, founders and other material men, mechanics, laborers, blacksmiths and artisans generally, and employees of partnerships, corporations, and merchants.

Subject property.—Any lot of ground or tract of land upon which a house has been erected or other improvement made, and the building or fixture placed thereon; a railroad, its franchises and property; any steam or keel boat; corporate, firm, or individual mercantile property of every character and description; any article of personal property.

Amount of lien.-Each mechanic may have his lien in proportion to the amount and value of the work done or material furnished, but the sum of all claims may in no case exceed the amount named in the original contract. Liens on corporate or firm property attach only to such portion thereof as will protect claims accruing within three months of the time of bringing any suit for the enforcement of the same.

Contract. To support a lien on realty there must be a special contract with the owner or his agent.

Notice. Subcontractors claiming a lien must give notice thereof to the owner of the property within thirty days after the building is completed or after the claimant's discharge or the completion of his contract. If the lien is on a railroad, such notice may be given within ninety days.

Where a subcontractor on any railroad refuses to pay the demand of any laborer or other employee, such person may give notice to the contractor of the refusal, together with a statement of the claim, whereupon a lien attaches to any sum due from the principal contractor to the subcontractor owing the debt, and said principal contractor becomes liable as garnishee for the amount.

Personal property may be sold at auction after one year on thirty days' public notice.

Filing. In order to secure the lien of a journeyman or other employee of a subcontractor' on real estate, the claim must be filed in the office of the county register.

Limitation.-Contractors and subcontractors holding liens on land and improvements must begin suit on the same within one year from the completion of the undertaking. Liens on railroads continue one year from the service of notice as above provided.

Liens of subcontractors' employees on buildings and on railroads continue ninety days from the service of the notice required.

Liens of corporation and mercantile employees and those on vessels are valid for a term of three months.

Rank. Where a contract for improvements on real estate is with a mortgagor and the mortgagee has written notice of the same before the work is done or the materials furnished and consents thereto, or fails to object within ten days, the mechanic's lien has priority over the mortgage.

The liens given on railroads have priority over all others; those given to partnership and corporation employees are superior to all other claims except vendors' liens and deeds of trust to secure purchase money.

Sources: Shannon's Code, sections 3531 to 3548, 3559 to 3586; Supplement, page 613; Acts of 1905, chapter 414.

TEXAS.

For what given.-For laboring or furnishing materials, machinery, fixtures, or tools to erect any house or improvement, or to repair any building or improvement whatever; for furnishing any labor or materials for the construction, operation, or repair of any railroad, locomotive, car, or other equipment of any railroad; for furnishing supplies or materials or doing any repairs or labor for or on account of any domestic vessel; for laboring or performing any service in any office, store, saloon, hotel, shop, mine, quarry, manufactory, or mill of any character; for labor or material or both employed in repairing any article, implement, utensil, or vehicle.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, mechanics, artisans, and material men of every class, clerks, accountants, factory operatives, quarrymen, laborers, farm hands, etc.

Subject property.-The lien extends to the house, building, fixtures, improvements, or railroad, and the lot or lots of land necessarily connected therewith. The word "improvement" includes wells, cisterns, tanks, reservoirs, pumps, windmills, etc. A lien on land in the country may extend to and include fifty acres of ground; if on a railroad, it may include all its property and equipments. Liens on vessels cover the tackle, apparel, furniture, and freight money. Liens of employees in offices, stores, shops, factories, etc., extend to all products, machinery, tools, fixtures, wares, etc., or any thing of value of whatever character. Liens for repairs of personal property relate to any article repaired.

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Amount of lien.-The lien is to secure the value of the labor done or of the materials furnished. This may be fixed by contract, or it may be such as is reasonable and customary. An owner can not be made liable for money paid to his contractor before the fixing of the lien or before notice received.

Contract.-A contract as to realty may be with the owner, or his agent, trustee, receiver, or contractor. To be enforceable against the homestead of a married man, a written contract must be signed by the owner and his wife and separately acknowledged by her, which contract must be filed for record. Railroad labor may be performed at the instance of the company, or of a contractor, subcontractor, or agent. Contracts of clerks, operatives, and laborers in stores, factories, etc., may be written or verbal, with any person, firm, or corporation, or with the agent, trustees, or receivers of the same.

Notice. Notice must be given the owner of real estate of the claim of lien for labor by all claimants except the original contractor at least ten days before filing the claim. Material men have ninety days after the debt accrues in which to give such notice. An owner receiving such notice must inform the contractor thereof, and may pay the claimant the sum stated unless the claim be disputed within ten days thereafter. Pending the settlement of any dispute, the owner may withhold from the contractor a sufficient sum to meet the lien claim.

Clerks, operatives, etc., have thirty days from the time the debt accrues in which to present notice. Personal property may be sold after sixty days on ten days' notice to the owner and twenty days' public advertising.

Filing. Original contractors have four months, and other claimants thirty days, within which lien claims must be filed for record in order that they may attach to real estate. Claims of clerks, operatives, and other employees in stores, mills, etc., must be filed within thirty days.

Limitation.-Liens of railroad laborers must be enforced within twelve months after their creation, and those of factory operatives, etc., within six months. The period of other liens is not determined by the law creating them. Rank.-A mechanic's lien on buildings and improvements is superior to a lien on the land upon which such improvements have been put, but the incumbrance on the land itself is not affected thereby. Date of filing does not affect the rank of liens on the same property, but subcontractors, laborers, and material men have preference over other creditors of the principal contractor.

The liens of railroad laborers are prior to all others. Those of shop, mill, farm, factory, etc., operatives and employees are of the first rank, except that a farm laborer's lien is subordinate to that given the landlord. Purchasers without notice are not bound by this last-named class of liens. Sources: Constitution, article 16, section 37; Revised Civil Statutes of 1895, articles 3294 to 3322; Acts of 1897, chapter 152.

UTAH.

For what given.-For performing labor upon or furnishing materials to be used in the construction, alteration, addition to, or repair, either in whole or in part, of any building, bridge, ditch, flume, aqueduct, tunnel, fence, railroad, wagon road, or other structure or improvement upon land; for doing work or furnishing materials for the working, preservation, or development of any mine, lode, mining claim, or mineral deposit; for performing labor or furnishing machinery or other material for the construction, repair, or carrying on of any mill, manufactory, or hoisting works; for making, altering, repairing, or bestowing labor upon any article of personal property.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, material men, mechanics, architects, engineers, artisans, laborers, miners, foundry men, boiler makers, ete. Subject property.—The improvement and so much of the land whereon it stands as may be necessary for the convenient use or occupation thereof, to the extent of the owner's interest in the same, and to such other improvements thereon as are practically indivisible. Where mines are worked by lessees, the lien attaches only to the leasehold and the ores and mineral mined and excavated by the lessee. In case of corporations, the lien attaches to all franchises and privileges pertaining to the subject realty. Any article of personal property may be taken on lien. All public buildings and improvements are exempt.

Amount of lien.-The value of the service rendered, labor done, or materials furnished; in case of contracts, the lien may extend to the entire contract price, but if part payments have been properly made, the lien must not exceed the balance due.

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