McCartney v. Tyrer

Citations

• 94 Va. 198
• 26 S.E. 419
• 1897 Va. LEXIS 63

Syllabus

<p>1. Statute oe Limitations — Personal defence — Exception to general rule— Case at bar — Mechanic’s Lien. — The defence of the statute of limitations is generally a personal privilege of the debtor to be asserted or waived by him at his election. But where a court of equity has taken possession of the estate of a debtor for the purposes of distribution, and proceeded to ascertain the debts and incumbrances to enable it to administer and distribute the assets, an exception is allowed, and any creditor interested in the fund may interpose the bar of the statute of limitations. In the case at bar the right of the complainant to institute a suit to enforce his mechanic’s lien was clearly barred by the act of limitations, and even if, in such case, the limitation be not of the right to the lien, but of the remedy only, still other creditors had the right to rely upon the bar of the statute.</p>