As Amended 2 Va. L. R. 489. 3 Va. L. R. 108, 151, 303, 454. As Amended 1897-8, p. 487. Previous 1895-6, p 71. 1895-6, p. 903. 89 Va. 107. 91 Va. 88, 384. 92 Va. 91. 93 Va. 396. CHAPTER CX. OF THE VENDER'S LIEN, AND OF THE LIEN OF MECHANICS AND OTHERS. Sec. 2474. [83 Va. 432; 84 Va. 652; 85 Va. 378, 471; 86 Va. 892; 88 Va. 93; 90 Va. 181, 565; 93 Va. 274, 404, 578; 3 Va. L. R. 825.] Sec. 2475. Lien for work done and materials furnished by artisans, mechanics, lumber dealers, and others.—All artisans, builders, mechanics, lumber dealers, and other persons performing labor about or furnishing materials for the construction, repair, or improvement of any building or structure permanently annexed to the freehold, and all persons performing any labor or furnishing materials for the construction of any railroad, whether they be general or sub-contractors or laborers, shall have a lien, if perfected as hereinafter provided, upon such building or structure, and so much land therewith as shall be necessary for the convenient use and enjoyment of the premises, and upon such railroad and franchise for the work done and materials furnished; but where the claim is for repairs only no lien shall attach to the property repaired unless the said repairs were ordered by the owner or his agent. Sec. 2476. Perfection of lien by general contractor; mechanics' lien record; notice of lien.-A general contractor, in order to perfect the lien Amendments given by the preceding section, shall at any time after the work is done and the materials furnished by him and before the expiration of sixty days from the time such building, structure, or railroad is completed, or the work thereon otherwise terminated, file in the clerk's office in the county or corporation in which the building, structure, or railroad, or any 2 Va. L. R. 489. part thereof is, or in the clerk's office of the chancery court of the city of Richmond if the said building, structure, or railroad, or any part thereof, is within the corporation limits of said city, an account showing the amount and character of the work done or materials furnished, the prices charged therefor, the payments made if any, and the balance due, verified by the oath of the claimant or his agent, with a statement attached declaring his intention to claim the benefit of said lien and giving a brief description of the property on which he claims the lien. It shall be the duty of the clerk in whose office such account or statement shall be filed as hereinbefore provided to record the same in a book to be kept for that purpose, called mechanics' lien record, and to index the same in the name as well of the claimant of the lien as of the owner of the property, and from the time of such filing all persons shall be deemed to have notice thereof. 91 Va. 88. 2 Va. L. R. 489. As Amended Sec. 2477. Perfection of lien by sub-contractor; extent of lien.-Any 1897-8, p. 488. Previous sub-contractor, in which term is included all contractors and laborers and Amendments mechanics and those furnishing materials, as provided in section two 1893-4, p. 523. 1895-6, p. 903. thousand four hundred and seventy-five of the code and acts amendatory 86 Va. 608. thereof other than general contractors, in order to perfect the lien given 1 Va. L. R. 34. him by section two thousand four hundred and seventy-five shall comply with the preceding section, and in addition give notice in writing to the owner of the property or his agent of the amount and character of his claim. But the amount for which a lien may be perfected under this section shall not exceed the amount in which the owner is indebted to the general contractor at the time the notice is given, or shall thereafter become indebted to said general contractor upon his contract with said general contractor for said structure or building or railroad. And when the labor shall have been performed or work done or material furnished for one who is himself a sub-contractor, then the person claiming the lien shall also give a like notice to the general contractor: provided, that the amount for which a lien may be perfected by such person shall not exceed the amount for which said sub-contractor could himself claim a lien under this section. Sec. 2478. [91 Va. 88; 1 Va. L. R. 34; 2 Va. L. R. 489.] 91 Va. 88. I Sec. 2479. How owner made personally liable to sub-contractor.-Any As Amended 1893-4, p. 523. sub-contractor may give notice in writing to the owner or his agent, stating 86 Va. 608. the nature and character of his contract and the probable amount of his va. L. R. 34. claim, and if such sub-contractor shall at any time after the work done or 2 Va. L. R. 489. material furnished by him and before the expiration of thirty days from the time such building or structure is completed or the work thereon otherwise terminated furnish the owner thereof or his agent and also the general contractor with a correct account, verified by affidavit, of his claim against the general contractor for the work done or materials furnished and of the amount due, the owner shall be personally liable to the claimant for the amount due to said contract or bysaid general contractor: provided, the same does not exceed the sum in which the owner is indebted to the general contractor at the time the notice is given or may thereafter become indebted by virtue of his contract with said general contractor. Sec. 2480. [86 Va. 609; 2 Va. L. R. 489.] Amendment Sec. 2481. Limitation of lien.-No suit to enforce any lien perfected As Amended 1893-4, p. 576. under the six preceding sections of this chapter shall be brought after six Previous months from the time when the whole amount covered by such lien has 1889-90, p. 36. become payable: provided, however, that the filing of a petition to enforce 2 Va. L. R. 489. any such lien in any suit wherein such petition may be properly filed shall be regarded as the institution of a suit under this section. 3 Va. L. R. 63, 3 Va. L. R. 401. Sec. 2482 a. To protect sub-contractors, supply men, and laborers.—1895-6, p. 379. No assignment or transfer of any debt, or any part thereof, due or to become due to a general contractor by the owner for the construction, erection, or repairing of any building, structure, or railroad for such owner shall be valid or enforceable in any court of law or equity by any legal process or in any other manner by the assignee of any such debt unless and until the claims of all sub-contractors, supply men, and laborers against such general contractor for labor performed and materials furnished in and about the construction, erection, and repairing of such building, structure, or railroad shall have been satisfied: provided, that if such sub-contractors, supply men, and laborers shall give their assent in writing to such assignment it shall be thereby made valid as to them, but the payment or appropriation of such assignment by the owner without such assent in writing shall not protect such owner from the demands of such sub-contractors, supply men, and laborers to the extent of such assignment. 2. No debt or demand, or any part thereof, due or to become due by the owner of any building, structure, or railroad to a general contractor for the construction, erection, or repairing of such building, structure, or railroad shall be subject to the payment of any debt or the lien of any judgment, writ of fieri facias or any garnishee proceeding obtained or sued out upon any debt due such general contractor which shall have been contracted in any other manner or for any other purpose than in the construction, erection, or repairing of such building, structure, or railroad for such owner unless and until the claims due by such general contractor to all sub-con As Amended 1893-4, p. 576 84 Va. 309. 88 VЯ 300. 91 Va. 384. tractors, supply men, and laborers for materials furnished and labor performed in and about the construction, erection, or repairing of such building, structure or railroad shall have been paid. Sec. 2483. [93 Va. 504; 2 Va. L. R. 489.] Sec. 2484. How liens are enforced; no priority except, &c.—The liens created and perfected under the preceding sections of this chapter may be enforced in a court of equity. When a suit is brought for the enforcement of 2 Va. L. R. 489. any such lien against the property bound thereby, all parties entitled to such liens upon the said property or any portion thereof may file petitions in such suit asking for the enforcement of their respective liens, to have the same effect as if an independent suit were brought by each claimant. There shall be no priority among them except that the lien of a surcontractor shall be preferred to that of his general contractor. As Amended 1891-2, p. 362. 86 Va. 1. 90 Va. 126. 2 Va. L. R. 871. 375,867. Sec. 2485. Lien of employees, &c., of transportation companies, &c., on franchises and property of company.-All conductors, brakemen, engine-drivers, firemen, captains, stewards, pilots, clerks, 3Va. L. R. 50,86, depot or office agents, storekeepers, mechanics, or laborers, and all per81 Fed. Rep.440. sons furnishing railroad iron, engines, cars, fuel, and all other supplies necessary to the operation of any railway, canal, or other transportation company, and all clerks, mechanics, and laborers who furnish their ser· vices or labor to any mining or manufacturing company, whether such railway, canal, or other transportation or mining or manufacturing company be chartered under or by the laws of this state or be chartered elsewhere and be doing business within the limits of this state, shall have a prior lien on the franchises, gross earnings, and on all the real and personal property of said company which is used in operating the same to the extent of the moneys due them by said company for such wages or supplies; and no mortgage, deed of trust, sale, hypothecation, or conveyance executed since the twenty-first day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, shall defeat or take precedence over said lien; and all persons furnishing supplies to a mining or manufacturing company necessary to the operation of the same shall have a prior lien upon the persona property of such company other than that forming part of its plant to the extent of the money due them for such supplies, and also a lien upon all the estate, real and personal, of such company, which said last lien, however, upon all such real and personal estate shall be subject and inferior to any lien by deed of trust, mortgage, hypothecation, sale, or conveyance made or executed and duly admitted to record prior to the date at which said supplies are furnished: provided, however, that the lien secured by this provision to parties furnishing supplies shall be subsequent to that due to clerks, mechanics and laborers for services furnished as aforesaid : and provided, that if any person entitled to a lien as well under section twenty-four hundred and seventy-five as under this section shall perfect his lien given by either section he shall not be entitled to the benefit of the other and provided, also, that no right to or remedy upon a lien which has already accrued to any person shall be extended, abridged, or otherwise affected hereby. As Amended Sec. 2486. How perfected; how enforced.-No person shall be entitled 1895-6, p. 340. to the lien given by the preceding section unless he shall, within ninety Previous Amendment days after the last item of his bill becomes due and payable for which 1891-2, p. 363. 90 Va. 126. such supplies are furnished or service rendered, file in the clerk's office of the court of the county or corporation in which is located the chief office in this state of the company against which the claim is, or in the 3 Va. L. R. 86. clerk's office of the chancery court of the city of Richmond when such office is in said city, a memorandum of the amount and consideration of his claim, verified by affidavit, which memorandum the said clerk shall forthwith record in the deed book, and index the same in the name of the said claimant and also in the name of the company against which the claim is. Any such lien may be enforced in a court of equity. Sec. 2489. NOTE.-A misdemeanor to fraudulently remove baggage, and so forth, upon which there is a lien under this section. Acts 1893-'4, page 970. See post section 3722b. Sec. 2490 a. For the protection of stock breeders and owners of licensed stallions.-Any person who owns a mare or jennet and breeds the same to any stallion or jackass that is duly licensed under the license laws of the State of Virginia, and where such mare shall be bred to and become in foal by such stallion or jackass and the same is delivered of a live colt, the owner of any such stallion or jackass shall have a lien upon said colt for a period of six months or until the price agreed upon for the season by the owner of the stallion or jackass and the owner of the mare or jennet be paid. Said lien shall not extend for a longer period than six months, and after judgment has been taken for the amount of said fee, then, unless the same is paid, the officer in whose hands the fee is placed for collection may proceed to levy on and sell said colt for the aforesaid fee and costs, and he shall be entitled to the same fees for his services as is provided for by the existing law, and this lien shall be operative from the recordation thereof, and if a chattel mortgage shall be recorded as other mortgages, and if not reduced to writing shall upon application of the owner of the stallion or jackass be recorded by the clerk of the county court of the county in which the foal is foaled in the deed book in the following form: The owner of the stallion or jackass (giving his name) versus the owner of the foal claims a lien on a colt or mule, as the case may be, less than six months old for $ for the get thereof. The clerk shall be entitled to a fee of thirty cents for the recordation of each of such last described liens. 1891-2, p. 920. Sec. 2494. Lien on crops for advances to farmers; nature of agree- As Amended ment thereof; where recorded.-If any person other than a landlord 1891-2, p. 782. make advances either in money or supplies to any one who is engaged in or is about to engage in the cultivation of the soil the person so making such advances shall be entitled to a lien on the crops which may be made or seeded during the year upon the land in or about the cultivation of which the advances so made have been or were intended to be expended to the extent of such advances: provided, however, that an agreement in writing shall be entered into before any such advances are made, in which shall be specified the amount to be advanced or in which a limit shall be fixed beyond which the advances made from time to time during the year shall not go and the said agreement be delivered to the clerk of the county court in which the land lies and by him docketed in a book to be kept by him for that special purpose; such agreement shall be docketed by said clerk in the same manner that judgments are now required by law to be docketed and shall have the same force and effect as if they were recorded in the deed book, and for such service said clerk shall receive a fee of twenty-five cents. Previous Sec. 2498. Satisfaction of lien to be entered by creditor; how signed; As Amended how owner, &c., of the real estate may have the lien released.-When 1897-8, p. 935. payment or satisfaction is made of a debt secured by mortgage, deed of Amendments trust, vender's or mechanic's lien it shall be the duty of such lien creditor, 1895-6, p. 574. 1893-4, p. 483. 1897-8, p. 594. 82 Va. 190. 92 Va. 1. 705. unless he shall have delivered a proper release deed, to cause such payment or satisfaction to be entered on the margin of the page in the book where 3 Va L. R. 445, such encumbrance is recorded, and for any failure to do so after five days' notice if the note, bond, or other evidence of debt secured by such lien shall be left with the lien creditor or with the clerk in whose office such encumbrance is recorded until the lien is released as provided by this section, he shall forfeit twenty dollars. Such entry of payment of satisfaction shall be signed by the creditor or his duly authorized agent, attorney, or attorney in fact and the note, bond, or other evidence of debt secured by such lien duly cancelled shall be produced before the clerk in whose office such encumbrance is recorded, and when so signed and the signature thereto attested by such clerk with a certificate that said note, bond, or other evidence of debt duly cancelled was produced before such clerk, the same shall operate as a release of the encumbrance as to which such payment or satisfaction is entered as fully and effectually as if the said marginal entry were a formal deed of release duly executed and recorded. Any person who owns or has an interest in real estate on which such encumbrance exists may after twenty days' notice thereof to the person entitled to such encumbrance apply to the county or corporation court of the county or corporation in whose clerk's office such encumbrance is recorded, or to the chancery court of the city of Richmond if it be recorded in the clerk's office of said court, to have the same released or discharged, and upon proof that it has been paid or discharged or upon its appearing to the court that more than twenty years have elapsed since the maturity of the lien or encumbrance, raising a presumption of payment and which is not rebutted at the hearing, such court shall order the same to be entered by the clerk on the margin of the page in the book wherein the encumbrance or lien is recorded, which entry when so made shall operate as a release of such encumbrance; and the clerk's fee for so releasing on the margin of the page of the book wherein the encumbrance or lien is recorded shall be twenty-five cents. All releases heretofore made by any court under this section upon such presumption of payment so arising and not rebutted shall after the lapse of one year from the passage of this act, if no objection be made during that time, be validated. A release of a deed of trust or a re-conveyance of the property embraced therein may in all cases be made to the original grantor, whether living or dead, and any release or re-conveyance heretofore or hereafter so made shall enure both at law and equity to the successors in title of such grantor. 1897-8, p. 258. Sec. 2498 a. Protection of assignees, transferees, or endorsers of debts secured on real estate by mortgage, deed of trust, vender's or mechanic's lien.—Whenever any debt secured on real estate by mortgage, deed of trust, vender's or mechanic's lien has been assigned, transferred, or endorsed to another, in whole or in part, by the original payee thereof, such payee may cause a memorandum or statement of the assignment by him to such assignee, transferee, or endorsee to be entered on the margin of the page in the book where such encumbrance securing the same is recorded, which memorandum or statement shall be signed by the assignor, transferrer, or endorser, his duly authorized agent or attorney, and when so signed and the signature thereto attested by the clerk in whose office such encumbrance is recorded the same shall operate as a notice of such assignment and transfer, and all the rights and equities of said assignee, transferee, or endorsee to the benefits of such encumbrance as of the date thereof to any purchaser of real estate on which such encumbrance is a lien which is situated in the county or corporation in the clerk's office of which such entry has been made, or person dealing with |