NEW IMAGE CARPETS, INC., A DISSOLVED FLORIDA CORPORATION, BY RALPH JAMES, MICHAEL JAMES AND JOANN JAMES, AS LAST BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STATUTORY TRUSTEES, APPELLANT,
v.
SANDERY CONSTRUCTION, INC., LOIS WEBB, MALLORY L. JOHNSON AND WIFE, LENELL O. JOHNSON, AND COMMUNITY NATIONAL BANK AT BARTOW, APPELLEES
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A subcontractor appealed the dismissal of its mechanic's lien claim for failure to provide timely notice to the property owner as required by Florida law. The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the subcontractor's relationship with a general contractor who was a member of a joint venture owning the property did not eliminate the statutory requirement to notify the owner.
The court held that membership of the general contractor in the joint venture owning the property does not eliminate the statutory requirement for the subcontractor to provide timely notice to the owner. Even if notice to the joint venture through the general contractor could be inferred, such notice would not satisfy the statutory purpose of informing the owner that the subcontractor looks to the owner for payment.
[1] A subcontractor's mechanic's lien amended complaint may be dismissed with prejudice for failure to serve a timely notice upon the owner as required by statute.
[2] The fact that a general contractor is a member of a joint venture that owns the property does not dispense with the necessity for a subcontractor to provide notice to the…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We do not agree with appellant that the fact that the general contractor with whom appellant contracted was a member of a joint venture which owned the property to which the subcontractor provided materials dispensed with the necessity for a notice to owner.”
Establishes the core holding that joint venture membership does not waive the notice requirement
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceNew Image Carpets, a subcontractor, provided materials for work on property owned by a joint venture of which the general contractor was a member. New…
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LEHAN, Acting Chief Judge.
We affirm the dismissal with prejudice of a subcontractor’s mechanic’s lien amended complaint for failure to serve a timely notice upon the owner as required by section 713.06(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1987).
We do not agree with appellant that the fact that the general contractor with whom appellant contracted was a member of a joint venture which owned the property to which the subcontractor provided materials dispensed with the necessity for a notice to owner. Cf. Floridaire Mechanical Systems, Inc. v. Alfred S. Austin-Daper Tampa, Inc., 470 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. denied, 480 So. 2d 1293 (1985). Despite the opportunity given to appellant upon the dismissal of the original complaint, there is no allegation in the amended complaint that the joint venture was involved with the general contractor in the work on the property. Thus, the membership of the general contractor in that joint venture did not provide a basis for arguing that there was privity between the subcontractor and the owner by reason of which, under section 713.05, no notice to owner would have been necessary. See Bessemer Properties, Inc. v. Barber, 105 So. 2d 895 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958) (where contracting member of joint venture contracts with a third party for goods or services not contemplated by the scope of the joint venture, joint venture not liable to third party); 8 Fla.Jur.2d Business Relationships § 691 [p. 736] (1978).
Even if there may be argued to have been notice to the joint venture owner, through the general contractor, that the subcontractor was working on the job, that would not have fulfilled the purpose of the notice to owner requirement. That purpose is to give notification to the owner that the subcontractor looks to the owner for payment, Bishop v. James A. Knowles, Inc., 292 So. 2d 415, 417 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974), and there was no such notification here. The mechanic’s liens laws are to be strictly construed. § 713.37, Fla.Stat. (1987) (“This part shall not be subject to a rule of liberal construction....”); Bracco v. Cardozo, 434 So. 2d 1024, 1026 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983).
Affirmed.
THREADGILL and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Elliot Zaleznik v. Gulf Coast Roofing Co., Inc., 576 So. 2d 776 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)…y served, and the record does not establish that the Zalezniks otherwise received notice within the 45-day period that Gulf Coast had to inform the Zalezniks that it may look to them for payment. See New Image Carpets, Inc. v. Sandery Constr., Inc., 541 So. 2d 1235 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). Accordingly, we reverse Gulf Coast’s mechanics’ lien and its corresponding award of attorney’s fees. Gulf Coast Roofing relies heavily on the trial court’s finding that it had “substantially complied” with the notice provisions…
Authorities Cited
- Vance D. Bishop and Joseph F. Putnam v. James A. Knowles, Inc., 292 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)
- Bessemer Props., Inc. v. Barber, 105 So. 2d 895 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958)
- Floridaire Mech. Sys., Inc. v. Alfred S. Austin-Daper Tampa, Inc., 470 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
- Bracco v. Cardozo, 434 So. 2d 1024 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)