Court Opinion

ID: 9661847
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:52:42.238988+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:34.452420
License: Public Domain

HALL, Justice,
concurring.
I disagree with the majority’s holding that a derivative claimant like appellee must give the owner the statutory warning set forth in § 2b(2) of Article 5453 in order to have a valid lien. It is my view that the lien is created and fixed by the claimant by complying with the other applicable requirements of § 1 and § 2b(2) of the statute, and that the giving of the statutory *814warning set forth in the second paragraph of § 2b(2) is only necessary to trap funds in the hands of the owner not yet paid to the original contractor for payment of the derivative claimant’s bill. In our case no funds were paid to the original contractor, and there was no need for trapping in order to enforce the lien.
However, it is undisputed in our record that appellee, the derivative claimant, did not give appellant Lopez, the owner, “written notice of the unpaid balance of such claim” as required by § 2b(2). Accordingly, appellee does not have a valid, enforceable lien. For that reason I concur with the majority’s decision reversing the judgment in favor of appellee and rendering judgment in favor of appellants.