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Notice. A subcontractor claiming a lien must give notice thereof to the owner within thirty-five days after he shall have ceased to perform labor or furnish materials; but the owner may at any time demand a statement of the claim, which demand must be complied with in ten days or the claim will lapse. If, however, any subcontractor gives notice before beginning work that he intends to claim a lien, the notice after the completion of his undertaking is not neces、 sary, unless demanded by the owner.

Filing. All liens affecting realty must be filed within sixty days after the completion of the claimant's undertaking.

Limitation.-Unless suit to enforce the lien is begun within six months after the claim is filed, the lien shall be discharged; but a suit by one claimant will preserve the rights of others having liens against the same property.

Rank. The liens given mechanics and corporation employees are superior to any incumbrance attaching subsequently. Liens of laborers and mechanics are in the first class, those of subcontractors second, and those of the contractor last. As between claimants in the same class, there is no priority. Source: Code of 1899, chapter 75; Acts of 1909, chapter 45.

WISCONSIN.

For what given.-For performing or procuring to be performed any work or labor, furnishing any materials, or preparing any plans, specifications, or esti mates for or in or about the erection, construction, repair, protection, or removal of any building or appurtenance or fixture, any bridge, wharf, fence, or other permanent erection, or any machinery so erected as to become a part of the freehold; for excavating or constructing any well, channel, cellar, fishpond, or tunnel; for improving any watercourse, marsh, or meadow; for making or repairing any walk or sidewalk; for grading or repairing any street, alley, or roadway; for setting or planting hedge; for cutting, hauling, rafting, booming, etc., any logs, ties, bark, or timber, or manufacturing the same into lumber or other products; for labor at the mining, smelting, or manufacturing of ores or minerals; for labor of men and teams in construction and repair of railroads; for services on board any vessel, or for labor or materials furnished for building, repairing, fitting out, furnishing, or equipping the same; for shoeing a horse or other animal; for making, altering, or repairing any article of personal property.

Any subcontractor furnishing labor or materials for the construction, repair, or removal of any building or machinery for any county, town, city, village, or school district, has an action for the value thereof against the principal contractor and the municipality jointly.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, whether persons, firms, or corporations; architects, civil engineers, surveyors, subcontractors, mechanics, material men, laborers, lumbermen, mill hands, cooks in logging camps, miners, smelter men, boatmen, etc.

Subject property.-The building or other improvement and the owner's interest in the land upon which it is situated not exceeding forty acres in amount, or if within the limits of an incorporated village or a city, not exceeding one acre. If the improvement extends over a larger area than those prescribed, then the lien attaches to the whole quantity affected or improved. Liens on a leasehold extending over a period of five years attach to the interests of the lessee, otherwise to the lessor. Liens on mines, smelters, etc., attach to the owner's interest in the real estate, and to all the personal property connected with the industry belonging to such owner, including machinery, ores, and the products of the mine or factory. Timber and lumber of all kinds, boats and vessels, horses shod, and any article of personal property may also be subjected to lien.

Amount of licn.-The amount of the contract or the value of the services rendered. No county, town, city, village, or school district may be liable for any amount greater than the amount due from it to the principal contractor at the time of the commencement of the action.

Contract. Where the contract is with one holding the land under a contract of lease, demise, or contract for the sale, no further interest will be affected than the holder's, unless there is an express agreement between the owner and the person performing the labor or furnishing the materials. Debts contracted by the master, owner, agent, or consignee of a vessel will support a lien. Work on personal property must be done at the request of the owner or legal possessor thereof.

Conditions. Whenever any payment on the contract becomes due, the principal contractor must furnish the owner with a list of all his creditors with the amount due each on the contract, and any payments made thereon before ten days have elapsed are at the owner's risk.

Moneys paid by the owner to liquidate any judgment awarded on such liens are deducted from the amount due the principal contractor.

Taking notes, etc.-The taking of a promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness does not discharge the lien unless expressly received as payment, and so specified therein.

Notice. Subcontractors claiming liens must give notice to the owner within sixty days after the completion of the undertaking for which the lien is claimed. Laborers and material men must give notice within sixty days after performing such labor or furnishing materials that a lien is claimed; others must, in addition to this notice, within ten days after delivery of the first materials or commencing labor, notify the owner that a lien will be claimed in case the contractor fails to pay; failure to serve such notice within the ten days defeats the lien for all sums due prior to the time when the notice is served, or if no notice is served prior to the sixty days' notice, the owner can be held for such sums only as remain unpaid to the contractor.

If an attachment or execution is issued against any person or corporation engaged in mining or smelting ores, wage claimants entitled to liens may notify the officer holding such writ at any time before the sale of the property, whereupon the officer must retain out of the proceeds of the sale a sufficient sum to satisfy the claims, which sum is to be held subject to the order of the court.

Personal property not exceeding $100 in value may be sold after three months on three weeks' notice, a copy of such notice to be left at the abode of the owner, if he is a resident of the State.

Filing.-Liens for buildings and other improvements must be filed within six months from the date of the last charge for services rendered. Lien claims on mines and smelters must be filed within sixty days after the debt becomes payable, if the lien is to attach to real estate. Loggers' liens for labor performed between November first and May first must be filed on or before the first day of June following; in other cases the filing is to take place within thirty days after the completion of the labor. Horseshoers' liens cover only services rendered within six months prior to the filing thereof.

Limitations.-Liens affecting real estate and those on vessels must be enforced within one year from the time the labor or other service is completed; but a lien on realty may be extended for one year additional by proper affidavit of the claimant made and annexed within thirty days preceding the expiration of the year above named.

Liens on lumber, etc., and on horses or other animals shod, must be enforced within four months after the filing of the claim; or if the debt be not due at the time of such filing, then within thirty days after the claim falls due.

Rank. Mechanics' liens are prior to any incumbrance originating subsequently to the commencement of the work for which they are given; also to any older unrecorded lien of which the lien claimant had no notice. The claims of subcontractors and employees are superior to those of the contractor, and no assignment by a contractor can affect this right. Lien holders of the same class are on the same footing without regard to the time of filing their claims.

Liens of loggers, lumbermen, mill hands, etc., attach to lumber and timber in preference to any other claims, whether accruing before or after the performance of the labor for which the lien is allowed. The liens of employees in mines, smelters, etc., are superior to all claims except those of the State for taxes, fines, or penalties; but no lien of mortgage or judgment entered before the labor is performed shall be impaired by such liens. The liens herein given on boats and vessels take precedence of all other claims thereon.

Sources: Statutes of 1911, sections 1815, 3314 to 3335, 3341 to 3351; Acts of 1913, chapters 213 and 241:

WYOMING.

For what given.-For doing any work upon or furnishing any material, fixtures, engines, boilers, or machinery for any building, erection, or improvement upon land, or for repairing the same; for working in or upon or furnishing material to be used in or about any ledge, lode, mine, coal bank, oil well or spring, or for transporting the products thereof; for labor performed in the maintenance and operation of irrigation ditches; for cutting or manufacturing

crossties, wood, poles, or lumber; for making, aftering, repairing, or bestowing labor upon any article of personal property.

Who may have lien.-Contractors, subcontractors, journeymen, day laborers, artisans, civil engineers, mechanics, miners, and material men.

Subject property.-The building, erection, or improvements, and the owner's interest in the land upon which it is situated to the extent of one acre; or if the improvement be within the limits of a town, city, or village, then the lot or lots on which it is situated; and homesteads are not exempt. All the property, both real and personal, of the owner of a coal mine to which a lien is attached, used in construction or operation of coal mine, oil well, or spring, may be subjected to a lien; also crossties, wood, or other timber or lumber; an owner's interest in an irrigation ditch; and any article of personal property.

Amount of lien.-The amount of a contract, the value of work or materials, or reasonable charges therefor. The balance due any contractor at the time an action is brought may be recovered by a subcontractor from the owner or

owners.

Contract.-Work on buildings and other improvements must be done by virtue of a contract with the owner or proprietor, or with his agent, trustee, contractor, or subcontractor. A husband contracting with relation to his wife's property is to be deemed prima facie to be the agent of his wife. The contract for mine labor may be either express or implied. Work on personal property must be undertaken at the request of the owner or of the party in possession.

Conditions. No liens shall attach in cases of miners, and oil-mine workers in which the amount of wages claimed is less than ten dollars.

In securing a lien for mechanics or material men, it is necessary to show that the labor was done or material furnished with the owner's or his agent's knowledge.

Notice. Every claimant, except the original contractor, desiring liens on real estate must give to the owner ten days' notice of his intention to file a claim. Miners, laborers, and subcontractors at mines, etc., may give notice to the owner or owners of any sums due and unpaid, whereupon the owner must notify the contractor of such claim and withhold from any sum due him an amount sufficient to satisfy the claim, which amount may be paid to the claimant if his claim be not disputed within ten days after notice is given.

Miners and laborers and persons employed in operating or developing oil wells or springs must file notices within six months after their last day's work.

Personal property held for thirty days may be appraised and sold after ten days' notice, a copy of the notice being served on the owner if he resides within the county.

Filing. Every original contractor for buildings or improvements must file his claim for lien within four months after the indebtedness for which he claims accrues, but may file no claim until after the expiration of sixty days after the completion of his contract. All other claimants must file their claims within ninety days after the indebtedness accrues. Liens on irrigation ditches must be filed and enforced in the same manner as builders' and mechanics' liens.

Limitation.-Liens for buildings, etc., must be enforced within six months from the filing of the same. Miners' liens and liens on oil lands for labor continue for one year from filing.

Rank.-Mechanics' liens attach to the building or improvement in preference to any prior lien or incumbrance on the land on which such building, etc., is erected, and have an equal footing, without regard to the date of filing. The lien of an artisan or mechanic on personal property is superior to any mortgage thereon, but no such lien shall be valid against an innocent and bona fide purchaser, without notice.

Liens on mines and oil wells for miners' or laborers' or other employees' wages are not defeated by the sale of the mines, bank, or oil lands.

Sources: Compiled Statutes of 1910, sections 3753, 3759, 3766 to 3769, 3778 to 3820; Acts of 1911, chapters 26 and 94; Acts of 1913, chapter 100.

PROTECTION OF WAGES OF EMPLOYEES, ETC., OF

CONTRACTORS.

Supplemental to the liens granted as set forth in the foregoing digest, a number of States provide for a form of protection of the wages due employees of contractors and of the amounts owing per

sons supplying materials, etc., to such contractors, which differs in some important respects from such liens. It will be noted in the above summary that in certain States, as Indiana, New York, and Ohio, the funds for public works or improvements are subject to liens in the hands of the officials in charge of such works, for the protection of the interests of the employees of the contractors performing the work. The law of Ohio is applicable also to private undertakings, while the Mississippi law applies to contractors and master workmen without designation. A few States have laws differing from these in not granting a lien on such funds, but in directing the principals to retain funds due contractors on notice from laborers and subcontractors, subject to an adjustment of claims. These are Colorado. (Revised Statutes, sections 5406 to 5409), for labor on public works; Michigan (Compiled Laws, sections 5243 to 5245), and Missouri (Revised Statutes, section 3075), for labor in the construction or repair of a railroad.

A third form of protection of the wages of employees of contractors is the requirement that such contractors shall, prior to entering upon the work, give a bond to the companies or officials with whom the contract is made. This is to run to the contracting company or official or board, or to the State, as the law may direct, and is for the use of persons claiming as laborers or material men to whom the contractor is indebted. These laws are quite uniform in their provisions and a single one will serve as a sufficient presentation of their form and scope. The law of the State of Washington relating to contracts for public works contains the customary provisions, except that in some States a special limitation is provided, while in others the general law as to limitations of actions is relied on. The law of Washington follows:

Security for wages of employees on public works-Contractors'

bonds.

SECTION 1159. Whenever any board, council, commission, trus- Bond to be required. tees or body acting for the State or any county or municipality or other public body shall contract with any person or corporation to do any work for the State, county or municipality, or other public body, city, town or district, such board, council, commission, trustees or body shall require the person or persons with whom such contract is made to make, execute and deliver to such board, council, commission, trustees or body a good and sufficient bond, with two or more sureties, conditioned that such person or persons shall pay all laborers, mechanics and subcontractors and material men, and all persons who shall supply such person or persons or subcontractors with provisions and supplies for the carrying on of such work, all just debts, dues and demands incurred in the performance of such work, which bond shall be filed with the county auditor of the county where such work is performed or improvement made, except in cases of cities and towns, in which cases such bond shall be filed with the clerk or comp troller thereof, and any person or persons performing services or furnishing material to any subcontractor shall have the same right under the provisions of such bond as if such work, services or material was furnished to the original contractor.

Failure to require bond.

Amount

bond.

of

SEC. 1160. If any board of county commissioners of any county, or mayor and common council of any incorporated city or town, or tribunal transacting the business of any municipal corporation shall fail to take such bond as herein required, such county, incorporated city or town, or other municipal corporation, shall be liable to the persons mentioned in the last preceding section, to the full extent and for the full amount of all such debts so contracted by such contractor.

SEC. 1161. The bond mentioned in section * * [1159] shall be in an amount equal to the full contract price agreed to be paid for such work or improvement, and shall be to the State of Washington, and all such persons mentioned in said section * * * Who may shall have a right of action in his, her, or their own name or claim benefit. names on such bond, for the full amount of all debts against such contractor, or for work done by such laborers or mechanics, and for materials furnished or provisions and goods supplied and furnished in the prosecution of such work, or the making of such Limitation. improvements: Provided, That such persons shall not have any right of action on such bond for any sum whatever, unless within thirty (30) days from and after the completion of the contract with and acceptance of the work by the board, council, commission, trustees, or body acting for the State, county or municipality, or other public body, city, town or district, the laborer, mechanic or subcontractor, or material man, or person claiming to have supplied materials, provisions or goods for the prosecution of such work, or the making of such improvement, shall present to and file with such board, council, commission, trustees or body acting for the State, county or municipality, or other public body, city, town or district, a notice in writing * * *.

Notice.

Such notice shall be signed by the person or corporation making the claim or giving the notice; and said notice after being presented and filed shall be a public record open to inspection by any * person:

The States having similar laws, as well as their application, are set forth below.

Arkansas.-Public works, churches, etc., Acts of 1911, No. 446.

California.-Public works, Sims' General Laws, 1906, No. 2895, amended by chapter 734, Acts of 1911; street improvements, contractors (owners included), Acts of 1911, chapter 496.

Colorado.-Railroad, reservoir or irrigation construction (private companies or corporations), Acts of 1911, chapter 163.

Connecticut.-Railroad construction, General Statutes, section 3696.

District of Columbia.-Public works, Acts of U. S. Congress, 1898-1899, chapter 218.

Georgia.-Public buildings and works, Acts of 1910, page 86.
Hawaii.-Public buildings and works, Acts of 1913, Act 31.

Idaho.-Public works, amount over $200, Acts of 1909, page 165.

Indiana.-Public works and improvements, Annotated Statutes of 1901, sections 4300b, 4300c, 5592, 5593; Acts of 1911, chapter 173.

Kansas.-Public works, General Statutes of 1909, sections 6255 to 6257; Acts of 1913, chapter 242.

Louisiana. Any undertaking where the amount involved is $1,000 or over; Acts of 1894, No. 180; Acts of 1906, No. 134; Acts of 1912, No. 167.

Maine.-Railroad construction, Revised Statutes of 1903, chapter 51, sec

tion 47.

Massachusetts.-Public works, Revised Laws of 1902, chapter 6, section 77; chapter 25, section 57; Acts of 1904, chapter 349.

Michigan.-Public works, Acts of 1905, No. 187.

Minnesota.-Public works, Revised Laws, sections 4535 to 4539; railroad construction or repair, sections 2919. 2920.

Missouri.-Public works, Revised Statutes of 1909, sections 1247, 1248; amended by Acts of 1911, page 106.

Nebraska.-Public works, Revised Statutes of 1913, section 3595; amended by chapter 170, Acts of 1913.

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