Long v. Pocahontas Coal Co.

• Decision Date: 28 April 1898
• Parties: LONG ET AL. v. POCAHONTAS COAL CO. ET AL.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

23 So. 526

117 Ala. 587

LONG ET AL. v. POCAHONTAS COAL CO. ET AL.

Supreme Court of Alabama

April 28, 1898

Appeal from chancery court, Walker county; Thomas Cobbs, Chancellor.

Bill by J. J. Long and another against the Pocahontas Coal Company and others. There was a decree for defendants, and complainants appealed. Affirmed.

By the bill it was sought to enforce a material man's lien for lumber obtained from the complainants, and used by the Pocahontas Coal Company in improving their land, in erecting buildings thereon. The contract for the material purchased from the complainants was made by Phillips & Wiggs Machinery Company, through its president, who represented to complainants that his company owned the Pocahontas Coal Company. Upon the final submission of the cause on the pleadings and proof, the chancellor decreed that the complainants were not entitled to the relief prayed for, and ordered their appeal dismissed. From this decree the complainants appeal, and assign the rendition thereof as error.

Norvell & Smith, for appellants.

White &amp Howze, for appellees.

BRICKELL C.J.

The lien in favor of mechanics, contractors, and material men for work done or materials furnished for any building or improvement on land is purely of statutory origin, and its creation, therefore, depends upon a compliance, in all matters of substance, with the provisions of the statute to which it owes its existence. Chandler v. Hanna, 73 Ala. 393. An essential prerequisite of the statute is that the person entitled to the lien shall, within a specified time, "file in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the property upon which the lien is sought to be established is situated, a statement in writing, verified by the oath of the claimant, or some other person having knowledge of the facts, containing a just and true account of the demand secured by the lien, after all just credits have been given, a description of the property on which the lien is claimed, and the name of the owner or proprietor thereof." Acts 1894-95, p. 1238; Code 1896; § 2727. When the lien is claimed by one who has furnished materials used in the building or improvements, the verified statement must be filed within four months from the time the indebtedness therefor accrued. The evidence presented in the record fails to show that these preliminary requirements were complied with. The bill alleges that on September 30, 1896, a verified statement of the account was filed in the office of the probate judge of Walker county, and a copy of the statement is attached as an exhibit to the bill, from which it appears that the last item of the...