The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-03-05
THE POTTS lien LAW.
Not Exactly What the
Material Men
Wanted.
FULL TEXT OF THE BILL.
Building and Loan Associations
Rejoice Over the Amend
ment-Doubts Of the
Stull Act.
FULL TEXT OF THE BILL.
s. ,cia, to the Jersev city Ne,c,

81 scial to the jersey City Ne,cs.
TIRE NToN, March 5, 1892:-The Potts
to the Lien law which passed
the material men want. while IL is what
building and loan associations have been
striving for. This is the amendment,
which, while it has only passed the House
SO far, is booked for passage and for the
statute books:
Be it enacted, That when any building
shall be erected in whole or in part by
contract in writing such building and
the land whereon 1t stands shall be liable
to the contractor alone for work done or
materials furnished in pursuance OF such
contract; provided, such a contract or
u duplicate thereof be filed In the
Office of the Clerk OF the county, in which
such building is situate; further pro-
vided, than at the time of the making or
the payment Of the price stipulated and
agreed to be paid therein. and every In
stalment thereof, the contractor or con-
tractors shall produce and deliver to the
owner or owners Of such building the re-
lease of all persons who may then have
furnished materials used in the erection
of such building. and of all Journeymen
and laborers employed in the erecting or
been fully paid and satisfied at the date
of such release, releasing their
lien on such building and on
the said land whereon it stands,
including the said lot or cartilage
whereon the same is erected, for the pay
menJ of any debt contracted and owing to
them for labor then performed or mate
rias furnished for the erection and con-
struction of such building, which release
shall have thereto annexed an affldavlt
made and subscribed by such contractor.
before any public officer of this State au-
thorzed to administer oaths and affrma-
tions, that no person or persons, other
than those named in said release. have
any lien upon such building or lands by
reason OF work done or materials fur
nished for the erection and construc-
tion of such building; and any pay
ment made upon the presentation OF
such releas and affidavit shall be full
and complete bar to any and all claims
under this act, or the act to which this is
a supplement, or any and all amendments
thereto now in force, for work done or
materials furnished prior to to the date OF
such release, except as to any person not
mentioned In such relaase, who may.
prior to the making of any such pay
ment, have given notice in writing to the
owner that he has or is about to DO work
or furnish materials for such building.
parts of acts inconsistent herewith are
hereby repealed, and this act will take
effect immediately"
B. & L. ASSOCIATIONS HAPPY.
George Forman, the Secretary OF the
State League of Building and Loan Asso-
Citations, was jubilant over the amend
ment's success He said Yesterday that
its progress was gratifying. linen ne
Said:-
"In 1890 an amendment to the Mechan-
ics' Lien law, known rs the Stull act, be-
came a law. This act was especially in
the interests of material men, although
workmen received by this act somewhat
more protection than was accorded them
before, The practical working of the
Stull act revealed the fact that the law
was exceedingly ambiguous, diff cult OF
Interpretation and exceedingly burden
some and veXatlouS 10 contractors alike.
LAWYERS differed so widely in their inter-
pretation of it and it was so loosely and
carelessly drawn that it resulted in con-
tractors being required 10 furnish re-
lease from every workman and material
man, whether paid or unpaid. in order to
get their payments.
"As any workman or material man
could possibly have claim IL he had been
paid, this requirement on the part OF the
awyerS caused serious inconvenience and
added expense to anyone who desired to
loan association.
"Another effect OF the law was that the
owners title to the property would be
clouded for whole year. For two years
the Building and Loan Association
League made strenuous efforts to have
the Stull act so modified as to relieve
them from the anomalous release feature.
Last year the league was not successful
in it's efforts. This year Assemblyma
Potts. of Hudson. introduced the relief
bill which has passed the House.
GRAVE DOUBTS OF THE STULL LAW.
A strong effort was made by the ma
terial men to prevent any change in the
law. But recent opinion OF Judge
Dixon in u case under this law at Pater-
son cast grave doubts uon the validity OF
the whole StuIl act. Mr.. Potts's bill is a
clear. distinct and explicit act. which
states distinctly and in unmistakable
terms lust what is required of contractors
and owners. The material man and the
working man were accorded the same
protection as under the Stull act,
but the anomalies and the am
biguities of that law are stricken out
and the result is an act perfectly
satisfactory to all concerned. The
splendid features of the new bill are
briefly these:- The written affidavit of &
contractor that no person or persons eX
cept those named in the releases have any
| lien upon the building for the work done
| or the material furnished is made a ful
and complete bar to any claim under the
act. 1t is expressly stated, however, tha
| this bar does not extend to any one who
prior to the making of any payment, la!
given notice in writing to the owner tina
| he has done or is about to do work or fur
nish material for such building"
| The Leagues Legislative Committee
! which has charge of the bill, is composed
| Of Judge i. Amber Armstrong of Cam
den, President of the League; William
| Nelson OF Jersey City, George Law of Pat
| erson. a former Assembly; John NJ. Hen