Case Name: ALSIDE SUPPLY COMPANY, a Division of Alside, Inc. v. Lawrence GERVAIS
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1974-11-07
Citations: 303 So. 2d 584
Docket Number: No. 6377
Parties: ALSIDE SUPPLY COMPANY, a Division of Alside, Inc. v. Lawrence GERVAIS.
Judges: Before REDMANN, GULOTTA and MORIAL, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 303
Pages: 584–588

Head Matter:
ALSIDE SUPPLY COMPANY, a Division of Alside, Inc. v. Lawrence GERVAIS.
No. 6377.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
Nov. 7, 1974.
Rehearing Denied Dec. 10, 1974.
Writ Refused Jan. 10, 1975.
Benjamin Washastrom, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.
Caryl H. Vesy, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before REDMANN, GULOTTA and MORIAL, JJ.

Opinion:
GULOTTA, Judge.
This is a suit by a materialman for payment and recognition of a lien for siding materials purchased by a contractor and placed on defendant's residence. From an adverse judgment, defendant appeals. We affirm.
On appeal, defendant maintains that the lien affidavit and original petition were filed in the incorrect name, Alside Supply Company, a Division' of Alside, Inc., and that the trial judge erroneously permitted an amendment to plaintiff's petition to reflect the correct corporate name, Alside, Inc. d/b/a Alside Supply Company. Defendant complains that after permitting the amendment, the trial judge rendered a money judgment and recognized the lien in the corporate name as amended. Defendant also argues that the lien was not timely filed as required under R.S. 9 -AS12.
The facts are that defendant entered into an unrecorded contract with H & H Builders, Inc., on September 16, 1972, to have the exterior of his home covered with siding. All materials used in the job on the Gervais home were purchased from plaintiff by H & H Builders, Inc. After completion of the work, Gervais paid H & H the full sum due under the contract. H & H did not pay plaintiff. Thereafter, on November 22, 1972, plaintiff filed a mate-rialman's lien reflecting the incorrect name.
This suit to enforce the lien was filed in plaintiff's name as it was recorded in the lien affidavit. After having filed its answer on November 26, 1973, defendant filed a peremptory exception contending that Alside Supply Company is not the proper corporate entity and, therefore, not a proper party plaintiff.
Immediately prior to trial the district court dismissed defendant's exception and permitted an instanter amendment of the petition to read " the petition of Alside, Inc., doing business as Alside Supply Company, a foreign corporation licensed to do business in the Parish of Jefferson in the State of Louisiana." This appeal followed a judgment in favor of plaintiff in the corporate name as amended.
At the outset, we find no merit to defendant's contention that the lien was untimely filed. R.S. 9 :4812 requires that a lien be filed within 60 days from the date of last delivery. The record supports the trial court's conclusion that the last delivery was made on September 25, 1972 and that the lien filed on November 22 was timely. Dray receipts from Alside Shipping Company show delivery of the materials commencing on September 18, 1972 and terminating on September 25, 1972. Furthermore, according to the testimony of the credit manager of Alside, invoices introduced into evidence show purchases of siding by H & H from defendant on the same dates of delivery as reflected by the receipts. The siding subcontractor who installed the material on defendant's house testified that he picked up some siding material from Alside on September 25, which he then installed at the defendant's residence. However, both the defendant and his wife contradict this testimony by stating that the job was completed on September 20.
Finally, we find no merit to defendant's contention that the trial judge erred in permitting the amendment to plaintiff's petition to more accurately reflect the corporate name. We are in agreement with the jurisprudence cited by defendant that statutes creating liens and privileges must be strictly construed. However, the amendment permitted by the court in the instant matter does not violate this precept. The corporate entity, i. e., "Alside, Inc." was included in the lien affidavit and also was included in the original petition. The amendment did not have the effect of amending from one entity (such as a simple proprietorship or partnership) to another (a corporate one). It merely more accurately defined the corporate name. There is no change in substance in the lien, the original petition, and the amended petition. The corporate name was included in all documents.
Strict construction cannot be so interpreted as to permit purely technical objections, such as advanced in the instant case, to defeat the real intent of the statute. We fail to find that the trial judge erred when he permitted the amendment to the original petition. He properly rendered a money judgment and recognized the lien in the corporate name as amended. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.
MORIAL, J., dissents with written reasons.
. LSA-R.S. 9 :4812 reads in part as follows: "When the owner, or his authorized agent, undertakes the work of construction, improvement, repair, erection, or reconstruction, for the account of the owner, for which no contract has been entered into, or when a contract has been entered into but has not been recorded, as and when required, the owner or his authorized agent may file an affidavit that the work has been completed, then any person furnishing service or material or performing any labor on the said building or other work may record in the office of the clerk of court or recorder of mortgages in the parish in which the said work is being done or has been done, an affidavit of his claim, which recordation, if done within sixty days after the date of the affidavit of completion or if no affidavit of completion is filed within sixty days after the date of the last delivery of all material upon the said property "
.Lumber Products, Inc. v. Crochet, 244 La. 1060, 156 So.2d 438 (1963). See also Executive House Building, Inc. v. Demarest, 248 So.2d 405 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1971) ; McCulley v. Dublin Construction Co., 234 So.2d 257 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1970), writs refused, 256 La. 375, 236 So.2d 503 (1970).
. From Alside Supply Company, a Division of Alside, Inc. to Alside, Inc. d/b/a Alside Supply Company.
. In Re Liquidation of Hibernia Bank & Trust Co., 181 La. 335, 159 So. 576 (1934).