| State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/17/11.
AN ACT Relating to mechanics' and materialmen's claims of liens; amending RCW 60.04.091, 60.04.171, and 60.04.900; and adding a new section to chapter 60.04 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 60.04 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The legislature finds that persons furnishing labor,
professional services, materials, or equipment for the improvement of
real property routinely rely upon the enforcement of their lien rights
to secure payment for their work. This chapter is intended to provide
a simple, reliable, and uniform mechanism for preservation of lien
rights and pursuit of lien claims such that technical errors may be
corrected by retroactive amendment in the absence of prejudice to
others, and technical objections will not override resolution of
competing interests on their merits. Yet controversy has arisen at
times as to the intent of certain provisions of this chapter.
(2) The legislature therefore intends to clarify that: (a) The use
of the "safe harbor" form in RCW 60.04.091 is sufficient to state a
lien claim for all claims and claimants; (b) the full array of civil
procedures generally available to the courts in regular civil actions
are also available to the courts in lien foreclosure actions, including
procedures that allow technical defects to be corrected so that lien
claims are decided on the merits; and (c) all aspects of designated
statutes are to be liberally construed to protect the interests of lien
claimants, including all requirements for entitlement to lien, drafting
and recording claims of lien, and pursuing foreclosures of liens.
Sec. 2 RCW 60.04.091 and 1992 c 126 s 7 are each amended to read
as follows:
Every person claiming a lien under RCW 60.04.021 shall file for
recording, in the county where the subject property is located, a
notice of claim of lien not later than ninety days after the person has
ceased to furnish labor, professional services, materials, or equipment
or the last date on which employee benefit contributions were due. The
notice of claim of lien:
(1) Shall state in substance and effect:
(a) The name, phone number, and address of the claimant;
(b) The first and last date on which the labor, professional
services, materials, or equipment was furnished or employee benefit
contributions were due;
(c) The name of the person indebted to the claimant;
(d) The street address, legal description, or other description
reasonably calculated to identify, for a person familiar with the area,
the location of the real property to be charged with the lien;
(e) The name of the owner or reputed owner of the property, if
known, and, if not known, that fact shall be stated; and
(f) The principal amount for which the lien is claimed.
(2) Shall be signed by the claimant or some person authorized to
act on his or her behalf who shall affirmatively state they have read
the notice of claim of lien and believe the notice of claim of lien to
be true and correct and that the claim of lien is not frivolous and is
made with reasonable cause, and is not clearly excessive under penalty
of perjury((, and shall be acknowledged pursuant to chapter 64.08 RCW))
before a notary public. If the lien has been assigned, the name of the
assignee shall be stated. If the claim of lien is signed by a
corporate representative, attorney, lien filing agent, or other
individual authorized to act on the claimant's behalf, the claim of
lien shall indicate the individual's capacity to sign on behalf of the
claimant. Where an action to foreclose the lien has been commenced
such notice of claim of lien may be amended as pleadings may be by
order of the court insofar as the interests of third parties are not
adversely affected by such amendment. A claim of lien substantially in
the following form shall be sufficient:
. . . . . ., claimant, vs . . . . . ., name of person indebted to claimant:
Notice is hereby given that the ((person)) claimant named below ((claims)) asserts a lien pursuant to chapter ((64.04)) 60.04 RCW. In support of this lien the following information is submitted:
1. NAME OF LIEN CLAIMANT: . . . . . . . . . . . .
TELEPHONE NUMBER: . . . . . . . . . . . .
ADDRESS: . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. DATE ON WHICH THE CLAIMANT BEGAN TO PERFORM LABOR, PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, SUPPLY MATERIAL OR EQUIPMENT OR THE DATE ON WHICH EMPLOYEE BENEFIT CONTRIBUTIONS BECAME DUE: . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. NAME OF PERSON INDEBTED TO THE CLAIMANT:
. . . . . . . . . . . .
4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY AGAINST WHICH A LIEN IS CLAIMED (Street address, legal description or other information that will reasonably describe the property): . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
5. NAME OF THE OWNER OR REPUTED OWNER (If not known state "unknown"): . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. THE LAST DATE ON WHICH LABOR WAS PERFORMED; PROFESSIONAL SERVICES WERE FURNISHED; CONTRIBUTIONS TO AN EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN WERE DUE; OR MATERIAL, OR EQUIPMENT WAS FURNISHED: . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
7. PRINCIPAL AMOUNT FOR WHICH THE LIEN IS CLAIMED IS: . . . . . . . . . . . .
8. IF THE CLAIMANT IS THE ASSIGNEE OF THIS CLAIM SO STATE HERE: . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
9. IF THE INDIVIDUAL SIGNING THIS CLAIM OF LIEN IS AN OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF THE CLAIMANT, OR AN ATTORNEY, REPRESENTATIVE OF A LIEN FILING SERVICE, OR OTHER INDIVIDUAL AUTHORIZED TO ACT ON THE CLAIMANT'S BEHALF, STATE THE NAME AND REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL SIGNING THIS CLAIM OF LIEN:
REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY: (officer or employee of claimant, attorney, agent, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sec. 3 RCW 60.04.171 and 1992 c 126 s 11 are each amended to read
as follows:
The lien provided by this chapter, for which claims of lien have
been recorded, may be foreclosed and enforced by a civil action in the
court having jurisdiction in the manner prescribed for the judicial
foreclosure of a mortgage, and the court rules ordinarily applicable to
civil actions shall apply to that action. The court shall have the
power to order the sale of the property. In any action brought to
foreclose a lien, the owner shall be joined as a party. The interest
in the real property of any person who, prior to the commencement of
the action, has a recorded interest in the property, or any part
thereof, shall not be foreclosed or affected unless they are joined as
a party.
A person shall not begin an action to foreclose a lien upon any
property while a prior action begun to foreclose another lien on the
same property is pending, but if not made a party plaintiff or
defendant to the prior action, he or she may apply to the court to be
joined as a party thereto, and his or her lien may be foreclosed in the
same action. The filing of such application shall toll the running of
the period of limitation established by RCW 60.04.141 until disposition
of the application or other time set by the court. The court shall
grant the application for joinder unless to do so would create an undue
delay or cause hardship which cannot be cured by the imposition of
costs or other conditions as the court deems just. If a lien
foreclosure action is filed during the pendency of another such action,
the court may, on its own motion or the motion of any party,
consolidate actions upon such terms and conditions as the court deems
just, unless to do so would create an undue delay or cause hardship
which cannot be cured by the imposition of costs or other conditions.
If consolidation of actions is not permissible under this section, the
lien foreclosure action filed during the pendency of another such
action shall not be dismissed if the filing was the result of mistake,
inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, or irregularity. An action
to foreclose a lien shall not be dismissed at the instance of a
plaintiff therein to the prejudice of another party to the suit who
claims a lien.
Sec. 4 RCW 60.04.900 and 1991 c 281 s 25 are each amended to read
as follows:
All aspects of RCW 19.27.095, 60.04.230, and 60.04.011 through
60.04.226 and 60.04.261 are to be liberally construed to ((provide
security for all parties intended to be protected by their provisions))
protect the interests of permit applicants and of persons furnishing
labor, professional services, materials, or equipment for the
improvement of real property.