Faraone v. Faraone, 78-81-A
| Decision Date | 11 April 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 78-81-A,78-81-A |
| Citation | 413 A.2d 90 |
| Parties | Mario M. FARAONE et al. v. Fiorenzo FARAONE et ux. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This case comes before us on appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court which dismissed a petition to enforce a mechanic's lien. The facts of the case are substantially undisputed. The petitioners provided labor and materials in the course of the construction of a dwelling owned by the respondents and located in Johnston, Rhode Island. On November 10, 1976, the petitioners, through their attorney, mailed to the respondents, by certified mail, return receipt requested, a notice of intention to claim a lien for the doing of work and furnishing of materials in order to lay the basis for enforcement of a lien pursuant to G.L.1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 34-28-4. On the same day a copy of the notice of intention was recorded in the records of land evidence of the town of Johnston. The notice was received by the respondents on November 11, 1976.
On March 1, 1977, petitioners filed their petition to enforce the lien in the Superior Court for the Counties of Providence and Bristol. The respondents filed a motion to dismiss the petition and asserted as ground therefor the failure on the part of petitioners to mail a copy of the notice of intention to claim the lien to the building inspector of the town of Johnston simultaneously with the mailing to respondents. After argument and the filing of memoranda, the trial justice entered an order dismissing the petition because of the failure to mail such notice to the building inspector. The order was entered March 13, 1978. A notice of appeal was duly filed.
The sole question raised by this appeal is whether petitioners' lien was "void and wholly lost" by reason of the failure to mail the notice to the building inspector simultaneously with the mailing of the notice to respondents. Certainly, the mechanics' liens statute in its various forms has never been a model of clarity. Indeed, opinions in few areas of the law have been so complex as those that attempt to construe the provisions of the predecessor statutes of § 34-28-4. See Art Metal Construction Co. v. Knight, 56 R.I. 228, 185 A. 136 (1936). The foregoing case pointed out that the mechanics' liens statute was first enacted in 1847, was substantially amended in 1888, and was thereafter amended and recompiled in subsequent editions of the general laws. Id. at 236-37, 185 A. at 140. The relevant section of the statute has been amended since publication of the General Laws of 1956 by P.L.1965, ch. 235, § 1, and P.L.1966, ch. 197, § 1. Generally, this statute has been determined to be in derogation of the common law; and hence it must be strictly construed. Art Metal Construction Co. v. Knight, 56 R.I. at 246, 185 A. at 144; Anastos v. Brown, 52 R.I. 462, 464, 161 A. 218, 219 (1932); McParlin v. Thompson, 32 R.I. 291, 291-92, 79 A. 681, 681 (1911).
More recently in Kelley v. Dunne, 112 R.I. 775, 778-79, 316 A.2d 341, 343 (1974), we observed:
As we construe this section, it appears that the Legislature set forth in a single sentence of gargantuan length the requirements that must be met by a person who is seeking to lay the foundation for claiming a mechanic's lien. This sentence sets forth two major requirements: first, the person must mail by registered or certified mail, with return receipt requested, and within the specified period...
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