24/ “SUBCONTRACTORS SHOULD FOLLOW RULES ON MECHANICS LIEN NOTICES”: Two subcontractors performed early work on a residential housing project that went broke. Hentges filed pre-lien notices that alerted potential buyers of lots in the development that Hentges would file mechanics liens against the lots if the subcontractor was not paid. SEH did not file these pre-lien notices.
When the two subcontractors sued the developer, the court ordered the developer to pay Hentges for most of its claims. No such relief was extended to SHE.
SEH asked the Supreme Court to find that it did not have to file pre-lien notices before it could file mechanics liens and qualify for at least some compensation because a statutory exemption existed that waived the pre-lien notice requirement for subcontractors who worked on “an improvement to real property consisting of or providing more than four family units.”
Then-Justice Gildea joined a unanimous Supreme Court in finding: “the exception to the pre-lien written notice requirement under Minn. Stat. § 514.011, subd. 4b, to owners of property consisting of more than four family units applies only to multi-unit buildings such as apartments, condominiums, and townhouses and not single-family lots within a residential development.”
“Remedial statutes are generally entitled to liberal construction in favor of the remedy the statutes provide or the class they benefit. Therefore, we construe the pre-lien notice requirement liberally to uphold notice protections for property owners. Correspondingly, we construe exceptions narrowly to limit instances in which notice is not required. Such construction gives fullest effect to the remedy and benefits intended.”
READ THE FULL CASE DECISION:
READ THE FULL CASE DECISION:
Hentges & Sons, Inc., Appellant, vs.
Richard Mensing, et al., Respondents..
January
21, 2010 2010-009
https://mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive/supct/1001/OPA080418-0121.pdf
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