Opinion ID: 1998184
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mechanics' Lien Statute

Text: The plaintiff first argues that the trial justice was clearly wrong in finding that the Rhode Island mechanics' lien statute was unconstitutional. The mechanics' lien statute has long been a source of uncertainty within the legal profession in this state. Gem Plumbing & Heating Co. v. Rossi, 867 A.2d 796, 802 (R.I.2005). The statute's intended purpose is to afford a liberal remedy to all who have contributed labor or material towards adding to the value of the property to which the lien attaches. Id. at 803 (quoting Field & Slocomb v. Consolidated Mineral Water Co., 25 R.I. 319, 320, 55 A. 757, 758 (1903)). The law was `designed to prevent unjust enrichment of one person at the expense of another.' Id. (quoting Art Metal Construction Co. v. Knight, 56 R.I. 228, 246, 185 A. 136, 145 (1936)). In Gem Plumbing & Heating Co., this Court addressed the constitutionality of the mechanics' lien statute. After an extensive balancing of private and state interests, we held that the mechanics' lien statute, as amended by § 34-28-17.1, [6] did not violate procedural due process. Gem Plumbing & Heating Co., 867 A.2d at 818. The trial justice in the present case, however, was without the benefit of this Court's 2005 holding in Gem Plumbing & Heating Co. when she rendered her decision in 2003. The trial justice recognized that the appeal in Gem Plumbing & Heating Co. still was pending at the time of the present case's trial, and, after conducting her own analysis, she ruled that the mechanics' lien statute was unconstitutional, even as amended by § 34-28-17.1. The trial justice's ruling in this case clearly is not consistent with this Court's holding in Gem Plumbing & Heating Co. We dealt with a similar, but distinguishable, scenario in F.C.C., Inc. v. Reuter, 867 A.2d 819 (R.I.2005), heard and issued on the same day as Gem Plumbing & Heating Co. In Reuter, the lower court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment in a dispute over a construction contract because it found that the mechanics' lien statute was unconstitutional. Reuter, 867 A.2d at 820. Although the lower court made no reference to the amendment to the statute, this Court noted that the enactment of § 34-28-17.1 became effective two months before the hearing at which summary judgment was granted and applied retroactively to that case. Reuter, 867 A.2d at 822. On appeal, we reversed the trial justice's ruling based on our decision in Gem Plumbing & Heating Co. and reaffirmed our holding that the statute was constitutional as amended. Reuter, 867 A.2d at 822; see Gem Plumbing & Heating Co., 867 A.2d at 818. We declined to go further with our analysis of the parties' claims in Reuter and remanded the issue of whether the plaintiff fully complied with the statute to the trial court for further findings of fact. Reuter, 867 A.2d at 822-23. In contrast, this Court need not remand the substantive issues in the present case. Today's case is distinguishable from Reuter because, in Reuter, the trial justice's decision to grant summary judgment to the defendants was based solely upon the trial justice's erroneous ruling that the mechanics' lien statute was unconstitutional. Reuter, 867 A.2d at 820-21. Because the trial justice decided to grant the defendants' motion for summary judgment in Reuter, he did not reach the question of whether the plaintiff had adhered to the statutory process for perfecting a lien. Id. A list of counterclaims asserted by the defendants also was not addressed or made the subject of the appeal. Id. at 820 & n. 3. Because the trial justice in Reuter did not articulate reasons beyond the constitutionality of the statute for granting summary judgment to the defendants, this Court addressed only his erroneous conclusion that the statute was unconstitutional and remanded the rest of the issues. Id. at 821-23. Here, the trial justice based her decision upon other grounds that do not require a remand directive. This Court may affirm[ ] the orders and judgments of a trial court when the reasons given by the trial court are erroneous in circumstances in which there are other valid reasons to support the order or judgment appealed from. Levine v. Bess Eaton Donut Flour Co., 705 A.2d 980, 984 (R.I.1998) (quoting Gross v. State, Division of Taxation, 659 A.2d 670, 672 (R.I.1995)); see also Jordan v. Jordan, 586 A.2d 1080, 1085 (R.I.1991) (stating that this Court will uphold a correct decision notwithstanding the reasoning upon which it rests). The trial justice here did not base her decision solely upon her erroneous ruling that the statute was unconstitutional. Instead, she went on to address the breach of contract claim that plaintiff brought against James Colucci and defendants' counterclaims, and ultimately found that defendants were the ones who were owed money. We therefore need not remand this case despite the trial justice's erroneous ruling as to the statute's constitutionality; we may affirm if her findings on the other issues are sufficient to support the judgment.