Chapter
345
2008 -- H 7765 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/04/08
A N A C T
RELATING TO PROPERTY
-- MECHANICS' LIENS
Introduced By: Representative Donald J. Lally
Date Introduced: February 26, 2008
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 34-28-4, 34-28-9 and 34-28-17 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-
28
entitled "Mechanics' Liens" are hereby amended to read as follows:
34-28-4.
Notice of intention to claim lien. -- (a) Except as provided in section
34-28-7,
any and
all liens claimed or that could be claimed under sections 34-28-1, 34-28-2 or
34-28-3
shall be
void and wholly lost to any person claiming under those sections unless the
person shall,
before
or within two hundred (200) days after the doing of such work or the furnishing
of such
materials,
mail by prepaid registered or certified mail, in either case return receipt
requested, a
notice
of intention, hereinafter described, to do work or furnish material, or both,
together with a
statement
that the person so mailing may within two hundred (200) days after the doing of
the
work or
the furnishing of the materials, file a copy of such notice of intention in the
records of
land
evidence in the city or town in which the land generally described in such
notice of intention
is
located and a further statement that the mailing of the notice of intention and
the filing of the
copy
will perfect a lien of the person so mailing against the land under and subject
to the
provisions
of this chapter, to the owner of record of the land at the time of the mailing,
or, in the
case of
a lien against the interest of any lessee or tenant, to the lessee or tenant,
the mailing to be
addressed
to the last known residence or place of business of the owner or lessee or
tenant, but if
no
residence or place of business is known or ascertainable by the person making
the mailing by
inquiry
of the person with whom the person making the mailing is directly dealing or
otherwise,
then the
mailing under this section shall be to the address of the land, and also shall
before or
within
two hundred (200) days after the doing of the work or the furnishing of the
materials file a
copy of
the notice of intention in the records of land evidence in the city or town in
which the
land
generally described in the notice of lien is located. The mailing of the notice
of intention and
the
filing of the copy in the land evidence records together with the mailing of
another copy
thereof
as hereinbelow provided shall perfect, subject to other sections of this
chapter, the lien of
the
person so mailing and filing as to work done or materials furnished by the
person during the
two
hundred (200) days prior to the filing mailing and thereafter,
but not as to work done or
materials
furnished by the person before the two hundred (200) days prior to the filing
mailing,
any lien
for which shall be void and wholly lost. In the event that the notice of
intention, having
been
mailed, shall be returned to the person mailing the notice, not having been
delivered for any
reason,
the lien of the person so mailing shall be void and wholly lost,
notwithstanding any other
provision
of this section, unless such person shall, within thirty (30) days after the
return of the
notice
of intention, and in no event more than two hundred (200) days after the
mailing of the
notice,
file the notice together with the envelope in which the notice was returned, in
the place
and
manner and with the consequences hereinbefore provided for the filing of a copy
of the notice
of
intention, and the filing shall be in lieu of any filing required at any other
time under this
section.
(b) The notice of intention shall be executed under oath and shall contain:
(1) The name of the owner of record of the land at the time of the mailing, or
in the case
of a
lien against the interest of any lessee or tenant, the name of the lessee or
tenant, and the
mailing
address of the owner or lessee, the name and address to be located at the upper
left hand
corner
of the notice, in addition to the text of the notice, as described in
subsection (c);
(2) A general description of the land sufficient to identify it with reasonable
certainty,
including,
for example only, street name and number, if available;
(3) A general description of the nature of the work done or to be done, or of
the materials
furnished,
or to be furnished, or both, and the approximate value thereof as of the date
of the
notice;
(4) The name and address of the person or persons for whom directly the work
has been
done or
is to be done, or to whom directly the materials have been furnished or are to
be
furnished;
(5) The name and address of the person mailing the notice and the name of the
individual
person
or persons whose signature will bind the person so mailing on all matters
pertaining to the
notice
or any lien claimed thereunder, or release thereof.
(6) A statement that the person mailing the notice has not been paid for the
work done or
materials
furnished or both.
(c) The notice may be in substantially the following form:
________________________________________________________________________
(Name
of owner of record/Lessee)
________________________________________________________________________
(Address
of owner/Lessee)
NOTICE
OF INTENTION TO DO WORK OR FURNISH MATERIALS, OR BOTH
All
persons are hereby notified that the undersigned has within the two hundred
(200)
days
prior to the mailing hereof done work, furnished materials, or both, and/or
intends to do so
in the
future (cross out inappropriate words), in the construction, erection,
alteration, or
preparation
of an improvement on land described as follows: (here insert description) and
that the
land is
owned by or leased to (here insert name of owner or lessee or tenant). The
nature of the
work
being done or materials being furnished is as follows: (here insert general
description of the
nature of
the work or materials, or both) and is being done for or furnished to (here
insert name of
person
or persons for whom directly the work is being done or to whom directly the
materials are
being
furnished), whose address is (here insert address). The approximate value of
said work or
materials
is, as of the date of the notice, $(include amount), itemized as follows: and
the
undersigned
has not been paid for the work or materials or both; The undersigned authorizes
(here
insert name or names) to act or sign documents in behalf of the undersigned in
all matters
pertaining
to this notice, or any lien claimed hereunder, or release thereof. You are
hereby
informed
that the undersigned may within two hundred (200) days of the performance of
the
work or
furnishing of the materials, file in the records of land evidence of the city
or town of
(here
insert name of city or town) a copy of this notice of intention to do work or
furnish
materials.
The filing of the notice of intention, together with this mailing, will perfect
a lien
against
the land described herein, under and subject to the provisions of the Rhode
Island
Mechanics'
Lien Law. _______________________________________
_______________________________________
(Name
and address of person filing notice)
NOTORIZATION
CLAUSE
_______________________
Signed
and sworn before me this___________________________day of ____________,
_______________________________________
Notary Public
My Commission Expires:
34-28-9.
Effective period of notice. -- A notice of intention filed under
lien recorded in
the
land evidence records pursuant to
section 34-28-4 shall cover all work done or materials
furnished,
or both, within its terms, and shall
be effective only for two hundred (200) days from
prior
to the date of filing. A notice of
lien shall be effective as to any retainage earned but not
paid,
for work furnished pursuant to section 34-28-1 et. seq., and said notice of
lien shall be
effective
from commencement of said work. Retainage is a percentage of the total contract
amount
that is withheld by the owner from the general contractor and by the general
contractor
from
the subcontractor until the entire job is completed and the project is accepted
by the owner
and
by the general contractor, at which time the retainage due is paid.
34-28-17.
Dismissal of complaint, notice of lien, and release of lien upon deposit in
court.
-- (a) At any time after the
recording of a notice of intention or after the filing of a
complaint
to enforce a lien under sections 34-28-10 and 34-28-13, the owner or lessee or
tenant
of the
land described in the notice or complaint may pay into the registry of the
court in the
county
in which the land is located cash equal to the total amount of the notice of
intention and
the
accounts and demands of all persons claiming liens therein under section
34-28-1, 34-28-2,
34-28-3
or 34-28-7, including costs, interest at the statutory rate and reasonable
attorney's fees of
the lien
holder, or may, in lieu of cash, deposit in the registry of the court the bond
of a surety
company
licensed to do business in this state in the total amount including costs,
interest at the
statutory
rate and reasonable attorney's fees running to all persons claiming liens under
sections
34-28-10
and 34-28-13, and on proper proof of payment or deposit and on motion of the
owner or
lessee
or tenant, any justice of the superior court shall enter ex parte an order
discharging the
notice
of intention and lis pendens and dismissing the cause as to the owner or lessee
or tenant
and as
to all persons having any title, claim, lease, mortgage, attachment or other
lien or
encumbrance
(other than under section 34-28-1, 34-28-2, 34-28-3 or 34-28-7), and on the
entry of
the
order, the building, canal, turnpike, railroad or other improvement and the
land on which the
improvement
is being or has been constructed, erected, altered, or repaired shall be
released and
discharged
from the notices of intentions and accounts and demands, but the rights of all
persons
having
any title, claim, lease, mortgage, attachment or other lien or encumbrance
(other than
under
section 34-28-1, 34-28-2, 34-28-3 or 34-28-7) shall be the same as if no
notices of intention
under
section 34-28-4 had been mailed or filed and as if no complaint under sections
34-28-10
and
34-28-13 had been filed. In the event that a payment is made into the registry
of court in
accordance
with this section, any person, having a contract directly with the person
making the
payment,
may be permitted, after notice to all parties under the complaint and after
hearing in
open
court, to withdraw from the registry of court the sum of money due to him or
her under the
contract,
provided that the person making the withdrawal first furnish a bond, payable to
the clerk
of
court, with good and sufficient corporate surety, for the repayment of the
amount, or as much
thereof
as may be necessary to satisfy claims thereinafter allowed by the court.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, after depositing cash or the bond
of a
surety
company the following shall apply:
(1) In the event that a notice of intention has been recorded, but no complaint
filed, the
person
or other entity claiming the lien shall file the complaint against the surety
within the time
limits
as noted in section 34-28-10. In the event of a cash deposit as noted in
section 34-28-17,
the
complaint shall be brought against the clerk of the respective superior court
for any deposit
that is
posted in the registry within the time limits as noted in section 34-28-10.
(2) In the event that the complaint has been filed with the appropriate
superior court, and
after
depositing cash or the bond of a surety company and discharging the notice of
intention and
lis
pendens, and dismissing the cause as noted in this section, the lien plaintiff
shall amend the
complaint,
to include the surety as defendant within sixty (60) days after the person or
entity
claiming
the lien is given notice of the order in regard to the bond. In the event of a
cash deposit
as noted
in section 34-28-17, the complaint shall be amended and brought against the
clerk of the
respective
superior court for any cash deposit that is posted in the registry within sixty
(60) days
after
the person or entity claiming the lien is given notice of this order in regard
to the cash
deposit.
(c) The complaint filed against a surety, or the clerk of any respective
superior court,
pursuant
to subsection (b) of this section need not comply with any procedural
requirements of
sections
34-28-10, 34-28-11, 34-28-12, 34-28-14, or 34-28-15.
SECTION
2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
=======
LC02242/SUB A
=======