Schmid v. Palm Garden Improvement Co.

Citations

• 162 Pa. 211
• 29 A. 727
• 1894 Pa. LEXIS 965

Syllabus

<p>Mechanics' liens — Contract not to file liens.</p> <p>To prevent a contractor or subcontractor from filing mechanics’ liens against a building, there must be an express covenant against liens, or a covenant resulting as a necessary implication from the language employed; and the implied covenant should so clearly appear that the mechanic or material man can understand it without consulting a lawyer as to its legal effect: Nice v. Walker, 153 Pa. 123.</p> <p>A covenant in a building contract, that “ the building shall be built, finished and delivered to the owner free of all liens and incumbrances, or any claims whatever that may arise under any action of the contractor or his legal representatives under the contract,” does not amount to a covenant on part of the contractor not to file liens, where other provisions of the contract require the production of a certificate that the building is “free from all liens or claims chargeable to the said contractor,” with further provisions for the protection of the owner against such claims by the retention of a percentage of the payments stipulated to be made, etc.</p> <p>The covenant does not say free from any right or debt accruing to the contractor from the contract, but from debts incurred by his “ action” in carrying out his contract. In tire most favorable interpretation of this clause for the owner it is ambiguous; it is not an express covenant against a contractor’s lien, nor does such covenant result from necessary implication. By Mr. Justice Dean.</p>