Court Opinion

ID: 9725988
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:25:49.484979+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:22.487519
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE COOK, dissenting: I respectfully dissent and would reverse and remand the trial court’s judgment. The purpose of the Mechanics Lien Act is to protect those who in good faith furnish material or labor for construction. Petroline Co. v. Advanced Environmental Contractors, Inc., 305 Ill. App. 3d 234, 237, 711 N.E.2d 1146, 1148 (1999). “This act is and shall be liberally construed as a remedial act.” 770 ILCS 60/39 (West 2000). Once a plaintiff has complied with the procedural requirements upon which a right to a lien is based, the Act should be liberally construed in order to accomplish its remedial purpose. Westcon/Dillingham Microtunneling v. Walsh Construction Co. of Illinois, 319 Ill. App. 3d 870, 877, 747 N.E.2d 410, 416 (2001); Petroline, 305 Ill. App. 3d at 239, 711 N.E.2d at 1149 (courts have thus attempted to reconcile section 39 with the precept that the Act is in derogation of the common law and must be strictly construed). The claim for lien in this case complied with all the procedural requirements of section 7. It (1) was filed within four months after the completion of the work; (2) was verified by the claimant or an agent or employee; (3) contained a brief statement of the contract; (4) set forth the balance due; and (5) provided a sufficiently correct description of the lot, lots, or tracts of land to identify the same. 770 ILCS 60/7 (West 2000). . The claim for lien in this case is absolutely clear. The claim was “prepared by: Name: Carla S. Bale.” The claim identifies the claimant, “Bale Excavating & Farm Drainage, Martin L. Bale, Claimant(s).” The notary acknowledgment explains how it is signed, “Carla Bale on oath duly sworn says that he [sic] is the claimant, agent[,] or employee of claimant.” The notary acknowledgment is then signed “Carla Bale,” with the word “claimant” printed under the line. The notary acknowledgment had to be signed by a person; it could not be signed by Bale Excavating & Farm Drainage. Businesses can only act through individuals. Consistent with her notary acknowledgment, Carla Bale signed the signature line of the claim for lien, “Carla Bale,” again with the word “claimant” printed under the line, and she filled in her name in the preceding blank, “Now comes Carla Bale the Claimant and claims a lien ***.” Where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, a court must give it effect as written, without reading into it exceptions, limitations or conditions that the legislature did not express. Davis v. Toshiba Machine Co., America, 186 Ill. 2d 181, 184-85, 710 N.E.2d 399, 401 (1999). Section 7 allows the claim for lien to be verified by an “agent or employee.” 770 ILCS 60/7 (West 2000). The section does not require that every time the agent’s or employee’s name appears, it must be followed by the word “agent” or the word “employee.” The majority’s attempt to read that requirement into the statute reads in a limitation or condition that the legislature did not express. The cases relied upon by the majority are very different from this case. In Ronning, plaintiff’s claim for lien described the wrong contract, a written contract entered into on September 20, 1985, between the plaintiff and Adams County joint venture, when the correct contract was a verbal contract entered into on July 1, 1986, between the plaintiff and Adams Pride. Ronning, 181 Ill. App. 3d at 759, 537 N.E.2d at 1036. In Candice Co., the claim of lien asserted that the claimant, Candice Company, Inc., entered into a contract to remodel a basement. Candice Company, Inc., however, was not a party to the contract; the contract in fact was entered into by Father and Sons, Inc. Candice Co., 281 Ill. App. 3d at 363, 666 N.E.2d at 725. Ronning and Candice Co. involved separate entities, not an agent who was clearly identified as such in the claim for lien. Under the rule of strict construction the statute is strictly construed. It is illogical to apply a rule of strict construction to a claim for lien. It is possible for a statute to be in derogation of common law, but not a claim for lien. According to the majority, if it is possible to twist a claim for lien to say something it was not intended to say, the rule of strict construction prevents us from reading the claim correctly. The majority is mistaken. “The doctrine of strict construction was never meant to be applied as a pitfall to the unwary, in good faith pursuing the path marked by the statute, nor as an ambuscade from which an adversary can overwhelm him for an immaterial misstep. Its function is to preserve the substantial rights of those against whom the remedy offered by the statute is directed, and it is never employed otherwise.” United Cork Cos. v. Volland, 365 Ill. 564, 572, 7 N.E.2d 301, 305 (1937) (distinguishing cases where “a material requirement of the statute had been omitted”). Cirrincione v. Johnson, 184 Ill. 2d 109, 113-14, 703 N.E.2d 67, 69 (1998). The strict construction rule applies only to the provisions of the Act that specify the substantive requirements upon which the right to a lien is based. It does not apply, for example, to technical objections to pleadings. Koglin Associates, 176 Ill. 2d at 396, 680 N.E.2d at 289. The claimant here complied with the substantive requirements of section 7. This is not a case where claimant attempts to extend the Act to cases not provided for by its language. Luise, Inc. v. Village of Skokie, 335 Ill. App. 3d 672, 680-81, 781 N.E.2d 353, 360 (2002).