Safe Deposit & Trust Co. v. Columbia Iron & Steel Co.

Citations

• 176 Pa. 536
• 38 W.N.C. 379
• 35 A. 229
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 1109

Syllabus

<p>Mechanic's lien — Date of commencement of worlc- — Evidence—Judgment.</p> <p>A mechanic’s lien is a claim only, and its averments and dates establish nothing. A judgment obtained upon it is conclusive against the owner, but he cannot waive the right of creditors to insist that the lien is invalid. As to them it is a judgment from its date only, and not even prima facie evidence of the relation of the lien to the commencement of the work on the ground.</p> <p>A finding by an auditor as to the time when the work is completed will not be sustained where such finding is based merely upon an averment in a mechanic’s lien filed for the work.</p> <p>Mechanic's lien — Description of property.</p> <p>A description of the buildings and plant of a steel company in a mechanic’s lien filed not against the buildings alone but against the plant as a whole, for work done on the foundations, filed, at a time when the buildings were not completed; is sufficient where the land upon which the buildings were erected is described by adjoiners, and the length and width of the buildings, the material of which they are built, and the objects for which they are to be used are stated.</p>