Tripp v. Vaughn, s. 860130-C
| Decision Date | 15 December 1987 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 860130-C,860131-CA,s. 860130-C |
| Citation | 747 P.2d 1051 |
| Court | Utah Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Wayne TRIPP, dba Modern Drywall, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Jeff VAUGHN, dba Jeff Vaughn Construction, Lincove Partnership, Contract Carpets & Interiors, Inc., Familian Pipe & Supply Company, Lowry Overhead Doors, Inc., Anderson Lumber Company, Gary R. Free, Basin Wholesale Electric, Inc., Basin Sportsman and Electric and Donald T. Anderson, Defendants and Appellants, Basin State Bank, Defendant and Respondent. CONTRACT CARPETS & INTERIORS, Cross-Claimant and Appellant, v. Jeff VAUGHN, dba Jeff Vaughn Construction, and Lincove Partnership, Cross-Claim Defendants. |
Before GREENWOOD, ORME and JACKSON, JJ.
Appellants, Contract Carpets & Interiors, Inc., Wayne Tripp, Donald Anderson, Basin Wholesale Electric, Inc. and Basin Sportsman and Electric appeal from the trial court's ruling that Basin State Bank had priority over appellants' mechanics' liens. We affirm.
In the summer of 1981, Lincove Associates, a general partnership comprised of Craig Christensen, Steve Hall and Greg Morrison, purchased property in Vernal, Utah which it intended to develop into a subdivision. In the fall of 1981, Lincove Associates entered into an earnest money agreement with Lincove Partnership, an unrelated entity composed of Jeffrey Vaughn, Bob King, DeVerl Byington and Richard Buchanan, providing for the sale of the Vernal property, described as a subdivision of improved lots with curb, gutter, sidewalk, fence, road and connections to sewer, water, power and telephone. On May 27, 1982, Lincove Associates and Lincove Partnership closed the sale of the property. Lincove Partnership financed its purchase of the property through Basin State Bank and secured the loan with a trust deed on the property. On May 28, 1982, Basin State Bank recorded the trust deed. After May 28, 1982, Lincove Associates proceeded with work to provide the subdivision of improved lots with curb, gutter, sidewalk, fence, road and connections to sewer, water, power and telephone, as it had agreed. Also after May 28, appellants provided labor and materials for the property and subsequently, filed mechanics' liens on the property. One of the lienholders, Wayne Tripp, filed this action seeking foreclosure of his lien and named the other lienholders as co-defendants. Wayne Tripp's suit was consolidated with a pending suit by Basin State Bank to foreclose on its trust deed. 1
On December 27, 1984, a trial was held concerning the priority of the liens on the property. At trial, appellants attempted to establish that the priority of their liens related back to work performed on the property, i.e. a survey, a sewer stub-in and a roadway, prior to May 28, 1982. The court found that the survey did not satisfy the notice requirements of Utah Code Ann. § 38-1-5 (1974) and that the sewer stub-in was not lienable work under Utah Code Ann. § 38-1-3 (1986). The court made no findings regarding the roadway. The court then ruled that Basin State Bank's lien was prior to all others, granted a judgment of foreclosure and ordered the property sold.
On appeal, appellants claim that under section 38-1-5, their mechanics' liens relate back to the work performed on the subdivision prior to May 28, 1982, and, therefore, their liens should take priority over Basin State Bank's trust deed. Before determining whether appellants' liens relate back, the work performed prior to recordation of the trust deed must meet the statutory requirements for the attachment of mechanics' liens under section 38-1-3.
First, we will address whether the trial court erred in finding that the sewer stub-in did not constitute lienable work within the meaning of the statute. Section 38-1-3 states that:
Contractors, subcontractors and all persons performing any services or furnishing or renting any materials or equipment used in the construction, alteration, or improvement of any building or structure or improvement to any premises in any manner ... and licensed architects and engineers and artisans who have furnished designs, plats, plans ... surveys or superintendence ... shall have a lien upon the property upon or concerning which they have rendered service....
The trial court found that:
the installation of the sewer line was an incidental item of work done as a part of an overall valley-wide sewer project, and was done by a separate sewer contractor primarily for the benefit of the sewer project. The Court finds that the stubs were routinely placed at locations requested by landowners, and were usely [sic] placed at no charge as was the case for this sewer stub. Based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the Court finds that the installation of the sewer stub-in does not meet the requirements of UCA Section 38-1-1 et seq. and cannot form the basis of relationback [sic] of these liens.
A trial court's findings of fact must be supported by substantial evidence, Hidden Meadows Dev. Co. v. Mills, 590 P.2d 1244, 1250 (Utah 1979), and will not be disturbed unless they are clearly erroneous. State v. Walker, 743 P.2d 191, 193 (Utah 1987); Lemon v. Coates, 735 P.2d 58, 60 (Utah 1987).
In this case, the design engineer for the sewer system testified that the sewer stub-in to the subdivision was installed in the fall of 1981 as part of a valley-wide sewer project, and that the sewer district installed stub-ins wherever a development was present. He also testified that, at the request of Greg Morrison, one of the partners in Lincove Associates, the manhole cover outside of the subdivision was relocated at no charge to Lincove Associates. Mr. Morrison also testified that he requested the relocation and that Lincove Associates never paid for the relocation. The testimony regarding whether the stub-in crossed the boundary to the property was disputed. One witness testified that the stub-in did not cross into the property, while another testified that the stub-in extended thirty feet into the property.
Under section 38-1-3, the sewer stub-in does not constitute lienable work. Because the stub-in was installed as part of a valley-wide project at no charge to the subdivision, there is no contractor or subcontractor who could claim a lien on the subdivision for installation of the sewer stub-in. Further, the stub-in is not an "improvement" under section 38-1-3. In First of Denver Mortgage Investors v. C.N....
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