New Hampshire Finance Corp. v. Lamarche
| Decision Date | 25 June 1931 |
| Citation | 155 A. 697 |
| Parties | NEW HAMPSHIRE FINANCE CORPORATION v. LAMARCHE. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Transferred from Municipal Court of Manchester; Perkins, Judge.
Action in replevin to recover an automobile by the New Hampshire Finance Corporation against Domina Lamarche, tried by the court. Finding for the plaintiff subject to the defendant's exception. Transferred from the municipal court.
Exception sustained.
James A. Broderick and James V. Broderick, both of Manchester, for plaintiff.
Omer H. Amyot, of Manchester, for defendant.
The plaintiff is the assignee of a memorandum of conditional sale covering an automobile purchased by one Crotty and brought by Crotty, without the plaintiff's knowledge or consent, to the defendant's garage for repairs. The defendant claims a lien on the car by virtue of section 36, chapter 217, of the Public Laws 1926, which provides as follows: "Any person who shall, by himself or others, perform labor, furnish materials, or expend money, in repairing, refitting or equipping any motor vehicle, under a contract expressed or implied with the legal or equitable owner, shall have a lien upon such motor vehicle, so long as the same shall remain in his possession, until the charges for such repairs, materials, or accessories, or money so used or expended have been paid."
The plaintiff contends that its lien under the conditional sales agreement, being prior in time, takes precedence over that of the defendant. This was the rule before the passage of Pub. Laws 1926, c. 217, § 36 (Sargent v. Usher, 55 N. H. 287, 20 Am. Rep. 208; Baribault v. Robertson, 82 N. H. 297, 133 A. 21), and it could hardly have been the legislative intent to enact a statute which was merely declaratory of the existing law.
The act was clearly designed to enlarge the rights of those who perform work on motor vehicles. The first draft (House Bill No. 345) provided that any person, firm, or corporation to whom an automobile was entrusted for the purpose of being repaired should have a lien on the car without reference to its ownership. In new draft, the bill created a lien in favor of any person who repaired any motor vehicle under a contract "with the owner or legal possessor thereof." The committee on revision of the statutes reported the bill in its present form, substituting for the words "owner or legal possessor thereof" the words "legal or equitable owner." Journal of the House, 1925, p. 487.
The repairs in the present...
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