Opinion ID: 782085
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mesta

Text: 41 Mesta was a tiling subcontractor of Tveter. Contending that it was never fully paid by Tveter, Mesta sought, through a mechanic's lien, to collect the contract balance from BDC. A mechanic's lien permits a subcontractor to assert a lien against the property, regardless of whether privity with the owner exists. See N.Y. Lien Law § 3; Rure Assocs., Inc. v. DiNardi Constr. Corp., 917 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (2d Cir.1990). A subcontractor, however, may only assert a lien to the extent that there are funds due and owing to the general contractor by the property owner under the principal contract. See N.Y. Lien Law § 4(1) (lien extends only to amount earned and unpaid on general contract at the time of the filing of the lien); Rure Assocs., 917 F.2d at 1335-36. The evidence before the Bankruptcy Court indicated that BDC had made some payments to Tveter, but that BDC may still have owed Tveter $9,846, which would have permitted Mesta to proceed as a lienor against BDC. 42 The Bankruptcy Court found that Mesta lacked standing against BDC, and, alternatively, that Mesta's claim was subject to a bona fide dispute. The District Court, however, found that the conflicting evidence as to whether BDC owed additional amounts to Tveter raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Mesta had standing as a lienor, and that it was therefore improper for the Bankruptcy Court to have found that Mesta lacked standing. But because we conclude that there is an objective basis for a factual dispute as to whether BDC paid Tveter in full — and thus, a question as to whether Mesta can properly proceed against BDC as a lienor — Mesta's claim is subject to a bona fide dispute, as the Bankruptcy Court correctly concluded.