James G. Wilson Mfg. Co. v. Chamberlin-Johnson-Du Bose Co.

• Decision Date: 26 September 1913
• Citation: 79 S.E. 465,140 Ga. 593
• Parties: JAMES G. WILSON MFG. CO. v. CHAMBERLIN-JOHNSON-DU BOSE CO.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

79 S.E. 465

140 Ga. 593

JAMES G. WILSON MFG. CO. v. CHAMBERLIN-JOHNSON-DU BOSE CO.

Supreme Court of Georgia

September 26, 1913

Syllabus by the Court.

"Want of title in the defendant to the premises on which the lien is claimed, and alleged title in a third person, who is no party to the suit, will not bar an action for foreclosing and enforcing the statutory lien of a materialman." If the defendant "has any interest in the premises upon which the lien can take effect, that interest is bound." Ford v. Wilson, 85 Ga. 109, 11 S.E. 559; Porter v. Wilder, 62 Ga. 521 (6), 527. See Jennings v Huggins, 125 Ga. 338, 340, 54 S.E. 169.

"Every legal interest in real and personal property can be" seized and sold. "The debtor and defendant will not be permitted to deny the title, or set it up in any one else." Pitts v. Hendrix, 6 Ga. 452; Whatley v. Newsom, 10 Ga. 74; Jackson v. Graham, 3 Caines (N. Y.) 188. An estate for years may be bought and sold as any other estate. Clark v. Herring, 43 Ga. 227.

The words "true owner," as used in Civil Code 1910, § 3352, providing for liens of materialmen and all persons furnishing material for the improvement of real estate, are sufficiently comprehensive to include the owner of a leasehold estate, and the liens therein provided for may attach to the interest of a lessee, who has an estate for years in the demised premises, subject to the conditions of the lease. 2 Jones on Liens, § 1272; Phillips on Mechanics' Liens, § 39; 27 Cyc. 30; 20 Am. & Eng. Enc. Law, 301, 303; the numerous cases cited by these authorities in support of the proposition announced; also the note to Crutcher v. Block in 14 Ann.Cas. 1029 (19 Okl. 246, 91 P 895). That a laborer or mechanic is entitled to a lien on whatever interest his employer had in the property at the time the work was done or the materials were furnished has been recognized by this court in a number of cases, namely Harman v. Allen, 11 Ga. 45; Callaway v Freeman, 29 Ga. 408, 410; Breed v. Nagle, 46 Ga. 112 (3); Walker v. Burt, 57 Ga. 20 (2); Gaskill v. Davis, 61 Ga. 645 (3); Reppard v Morrison, 120 Ga. 28, 47 S.E. 554; Central of Ga. Ry. Co. v. Shiver, 125 Ga. 218, 53 S.E. 601.

In 1910 a private corporation leased from the owners thereof certain city lots for a term of 21 years, agreeing to pay specified annual rentals, and, after the first year, all taxes assessments, insurance premiums, and expenses for repairs, and agreeing, further, to tear down the building then on the premises, and to erect in its stead a building in accordance with certain plans and specifications, with the right to add improvements thereto, or to replace it with a building or buildings to cost not less than the one replaced, and equally adaptable to general business purposes; also stipulating to keep the building or buildings insured to three-fourths of their value and for the lessor's protection, and, should the same...