Court Opinion

ID: 9693214
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:30:31.541653+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:42.791273
License: Public Domain

CATHELL, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. At page 254, the majority states: “As noted, we adhere to our general rule that the overall burden of proving an entitlement to a lien remains with the claimant.” As I read the majority’s opinion, it does not adhere to the general rule.
The majority correctly notes at page 248 that the fundamental purpose of 1982 Md. Laws, Chap. 251, was to “limit[ ] the liability of an owner to a subcontractor for work performed and materials rendered by the subcontractor on a single family dwelling erected on the owner’s land for his own residence, to the extent that the owner has rendered payment to the contractor.” The Court, however, has taken upon itself to minimize the legislative purpose because of the difficulties it perceives subcontractors may have in establishing a lien against an owner’s property. The Legislature wanted it to be *257difficult to establish a lien and it said as much by passing this law.
The majority states at page 254 that if the statute is read sensibly (in other words, read as the majority thinks the statute should have been drafted), then it provides a fair and reasonable balance to the competing interests. In essence, the Court substitutes what it perceives to be a fair and reasonable balance for the preferential treatment of homeowners that the Legislature intended. The effect of the majority opinion is to set a course back to the status between subcontractors seeking liens and landowners that existed prior to the 1982 statute and this Court’s decision in Barry Properties v. Fick Bros. Roofing Co., 277 Md. 15, 37, 353 A.2d 222, 235 (1976) (holding that the portion of the mechanic’s lien statute that created a lien the moment the work was performed or the materials were furnished was unconstitutional because it violated owners’ due process rights under Article 23 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution).
To be fair, the majority discusses at some length the difficulty a potential lien holder will encounter in attempting to ascertain the nature of the ownership, intent to reside, and amount owed by the owner to a general contractor. It bases its bottom line, at least in part, on a perceived difficulty of proof. But at the inception of arrangements between homeowners and general contractors, there is no way, other than constant presence on-site, for an owner to be able to identify the subcontractors or materialmen. Even then, such a determination could be difficult. Furthermore, when a general contractor presents a signed release of liens, there is no way for the owner to know if the release is accurate, complete, or even authentically signed. Matters of proof could be equally difficult.
When, however, a complaint (petition) is filed by a subcontractor and service of process obtained, he has the ability to avail himself fully of all the discovery procedures available to any other litigant, including depositions, interrogatories, mo*258tions to compel, and requests for admission of facts. A request for admission of facts for the facts the majority emphasizes in this case, if unanswered, would have constituted evidence of those facts. Maryland Rule 2-424(b) specifically states:
Each matter of which an admission is requested shall be deemed admitted unless, within 30 days after service of the request or within 15 days after the date on which that party’s initial pleading or motion is required, whichever is later, the party to whom the request is directed serves a response signed by the party or the party’s attorney.
Each of the matters such as ownership, residence, and indebtedness with the general contractor is particularly suited for such a request. The framing of a request for such admissions would not prove difficult.
Interrogatories likewise could be used to develop information. Depositions of the owner, general contractor, and even representatives of construction loan lenders could be taken. These people may not like to be deposed; most people do not. Regardless, they will be deposed anyway if litigants perceive that their testimony would be helpful.
Barry Properties began the process of protecting property owners from the abuses to which they had been subjected prior to that decision; the 1982 statute continued the trend of affording protection to some homeowners. The majority opinion, in my view, reverts to the time when subcontractors, who could not or chose not to protect themselves against the abuses general contractors sometimes inflicted upon them, held homeowners hostage financially. I decline to promote such a course of action and respectfully dissent.
Judge ELDRIDGE has authorized me to state that he joins in the views expressed herein.