Certain Liens Established; Removal of Nonconforming Liens

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  1. The following liens are established in this state:
    1. Liens for taxes in favor of the state, the counties, and the municipal corporations;
    2. Liens in favor of creditors by judgment and decree;
    3. Liens in favor of laborers;
    4. Liens in favor of landlords;
    5. Liens in favor of mortgagees;
    6. Liens in favor of landlords furnishing supplies;
    7. Liens in favor of mechanics on real and personal property;
    8. Liens in favor of contractors, materialmen, subcontractors, materialmen furnishing material to subcontractors, and laborers furnishing labor to subcontractors, machinists, and manufacturers of machinery. As used in this paragraph, the term "subcontractor" includes, but is not limited to, subcontractors having privity of contract with the prime contractor;
    9. Liens in favor of certain creditors against steamboats and other watercraft;
    10. Liens in favor of the proprietors of sawmills and the proprietors of planing mills and other similar establishments;
    11. Liens in favor of innkeepers, boardinghouse keepers, carriers, livery stable keepers, pawnbrokers, depositories, bailees, factors, acceptors, and attorneys at law;
    12. Liens in favor of owners of stallions, jacks, bulls, and boars;
    13. Liens in favor of railroad employees, owners of stock killed, and persons furnishing supplies to railroads;
    14. Liens in favor of laundrymen;
    15. Liens in favor of jewelers;
    16. Liens in favor of the state for expenditures from the hazardous waste trust fund pursuant to subsection (e) of Code Section 12-8-96. Such liens shall be superior to all other liens except liens for taxes and other prior perfected recorded liens or claims of record; and
    17. Liens in favor of a nonprofit organization or entity that is exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. Section 501(c) which exercises the powers of a fire department as provided for under Chapter 3 of Title 25 that are requested by property owners and that are based upon fees and rates charged that are consistent with the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security's Schedule of Equipment Rates as such existed on July 1, 2019.
    1. All liens provided for in this chapter or specifically established by federal or state statute, county, municipal, or consolidated government ordinance or specifically established in a written declaration or covenant which runs with the land shall be exempt from subsection (c) of this Code section. All other liens shall be defined as nonconforming liens and shall not be eligible for filing and recording.
    2. Each nonconforming lien shall be a nullity with no force or effect whatsoever, even if said nonconforming lien is filed, recorded, and indexed in the land records of one or more counties in this state.
    1. Any person, corporation, or other entity against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed or recorded may, without notice to any party, file an ex parte petition for an order to remove a nonconforming lien from the record in the superior court of the county in which said lien is filed or recorded and obtain an order from said superior court directing the clerk of the superior court to record the order and mark the recorded nonconforming lien: "CANCELED OF RECORD PURSUANT TO ORDER DATED ________, RECORDED AT DEED BOOK ____, PAGE ____. THIS ________ DAY OF ________________________, ________." The petition shall set forth that:
      1. The movant is a party against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed;
      2. The lien in question is a nonconforming lien as defined under this Code section; and
      3. A certified copy of the nonconforming lien is attached as an exhibit.

        The petition must be executed by the movant or movant's attorney. The order may be entered as early as the date of filing of the petition and shall set forth that, upon review of the petition and the certified copy of the recorded instrument attached thereto, it is the order of the court that said lien is a nonconforming lien under this Code section and that the clerk of the court is ordered to record the order and mark the nonconforming lien canceled of record.

    2. Any official or employee of the government of this state or any branch thereof, any political subdivision of this state, or the government of the United States or any branch thereof against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed or recorded may, without notice to any party and in lieu of the procedure provided by paragraph (1) of this subsection, file an ex parte affidavit of nonconforming lien in the superior court of the county in which said lien is filed or recorded. The affidavit shall set forth that:
      1. Such person against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed is an official or employee of the government of this state or a branch thereof, a political subdivision of this state, or the government of the United States or a branch thereof;
      2. The lien in question is a nonconforming lien as defined under this Code section and was filed against the government official or employee based upon the performance or nonperformance of his or her official duties; and
      3. A certified copy of the nonconforming lien is attached as an exhibit.

        The affidavit filed for such government official or employee must be executed by the Attorney General or a deputy or assistant attorney general in the case of an official or employee of the government of this state or a branch thereof, the attorney representing a political subdivision of this state in the case of an official or employee of such political subdivision, or a United States attorney or an assistant United States attorney in the case of an official or employee of the government of the United States or a branch thereof. The lien shall be conclusively presumed to be nonconforming upon the filing of such affidavit, and the clerk of the court shall instanter mark the recorded nonconforming lien: "CANCELED OF RECORD PURSUANT TO AFFIDAVIT DATED ________, RECORDED AT DEED BOOK ____, PAGE ____. THIS ________ DAY OF ________________________, ________."

(Ga. L. 1873, p. 42, § 1; Code 1873, § 1972; Code 1882, § 1972; Civil Code 1895, § 2787; Ga. L. 1909, p. 151, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 3329; Code 1933, § 67-1701; Ga. L. 1956, p. 562, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 970, § 2; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1050, § 3; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 44; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1487, § 1; Ga. L. 2019, p. 294, § 1/HB 387.)

The 2000 amendment, effective May 1, 2000, in subsection (b), added the paragraph designations, in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, inserted a comma following "municipal", and deleted a comma following "ordinance", and added "and shall not be eligible for filing and recording" in the second sentence, and, in paragraph (2), inserted "a" preceding "nullity", substituted ", even if" for "even though", and deleted "duly" preceding "filed,"; and, in subsection (c), designated the former undesignated language as paragraph (1), redesignated former paragraphs (1) through (3) as present subparagraphs (c)(1)(A) through (c)(1)(C), respectively, and added paragraph (2).

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, deleted "and" at the end of paragraph (a)(15), substituted "; and" for the period at the end of paragraph (a)(16), and added paragraph (a)(17).

Cross references.

- Liens for attorneys' services, §§ 15-19-14,15-19-15.

Child support liens in favor of Department of Human Resources, § 19-11-18.

Liens of innkeepers on property of guests, § 43-21-5 et seq.

Holding of liens on one's own property, § 44-6-3.

Tax liens, § 48-5-28.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 51 Am. Jur. 2d, Liens, §§ 52, 53.

C.J.S.

- 53 C.J.S., Liens, § 9.

ALR.

- Periodical use of vehicle or horse by owner as defeating lien for storage, repairs, or board, 3 A.L.R. 664.

Common-law lien on personalty for work performed thereon, upon the owner's premises, 3 A.L.R. 862.

Priority as between judgment lien and unrecorded mortgage, 4 A.L.R. 434.

Validity and effect of provision in contract against mechanic's lien, 13 A.L.R. 1065; 102 A.L.R. 356; 76 A.L.R.2d 1087.

Power of the state to create and enforce liens on ships for a nonmaritime tort, 20 A.L.R. 1095.

Discharge of mortgage and taking back of new mortgage as affecting lien intervening between the old and new mortgage, 33 A.L.R. 149; 98 A.L.R. 843.

Mechanics' lien for material specially fabricated for and adapted to building, but not used therein, 33 A.L.R. 320.

Substitution by court of security for attorney's lien, 33 A.L.R. 1296.

Priority as between judgment entered and deed or mortgage filed on same day, 37 A.L.R. 268.

Mechanic's lien: owner's right to deduction on account of damages sustained through contractor's delay, 37 A.L.R. 766.

Independence of contract considered with relation to the scope and construction of statutes, 43 A.L.R. 335.

Bankruptcy: lessor's right, upon bankruptcy of lessee, to enforce lien or retain security for future rentals, 45 A.L.R. 717.

Destruction, demolition, removal of, or damage to improvement as affecting mechanic's lien, 74 A.L.R. 428.

Lien of mortgage securing corporate bonds as affected by exchange of bonds for those of reorganized or new corporations, 81 A.L.R. 139.

Lien on vendee's or optionee's interest in respect of real property as attaching to title acquired by completion of contract or exercise of option, 85 A.L.R. 927.

Vendor's or vendee's lien against realty in case of combined sale of realty and personalty, 88 A.L.R. 92.

State's prerogative right of preference at common law, 90 A.L.R. 184; 167 A.L.R. 640.

Different classes of "vendors' liens," so-called, upon real property, 91 A.L.R. 148.

Mortgagee's release of mortgagor's personal liability by dealings with purchaser of part of mortgaged property who had assumed mortgage debt as affecting lien of mortgage upon other part which has been conveyed by mortgagor to third person, 101 A.L.R. 618.

Remedy available to holder of mechanic's lien which has priority over antecedent mortgage or vendor's title or lien as regards improvement, but not as regards land, where it is impossible or impractical to remove the improvement, 107 A.L.R. 1012.

Means of enforcing or making effective attorney's retaining lien, 111 A.L.R. 487.

Claim of lessor or privy against receiver of lessee in respect of leasehold which latter elects not to take over, 111 A.L.R. 556.

Character of service contemplated by statutes giving a lien or preference, in event of insolvency, to servants, employees, laborers, etc., 111 A.L.R. 1453; 142 A.L.R. 362.

Statute relating to attorney's lien as affecting common-law or equitable lien, 120 A.L.R. 1243.

Constitutionality of statute impairing or postponing lien for taxes, 136 A.L.R. 328.

Who is contractor or subcontractor, as distinguished from materialman, for purposes of mechanic's lien, contractor's bond, or other provision for securing compensation under construction contract, 141 A.L.R. 321.

Terms of attorney's contingent-fee contract as creating an equitable lien in his favor, 143 A.L.R. 204.

Respective rights and estates of persons claiming real property through sales from different agencies to enforce taxes or assessments, as between which there is parity of lien, 167 A.L.R. 1001.

Right of attorney to set off claim for unrelated services against client's claim for money collected, 173 A.L.R. 429.

Attorney's right to lien or equitable assignment in respect of client's share or interest in decedent's estate, or in trust, 175 A.L.R. 1132.

Lien for storage of motor vehicle, 48 A.L.R.2d 894; 85 A.L.R.3d 199.

Validity of statute making private property owner liable to contractor's laborers, materialmen, or subcontractors where owner fails to exact bond or employ other means of securing their payment, 59 A.L.R.2d 885.

Interest and penalties on federal tax covered in part by prebankruptcy liens as allowable or as surviving discharge in bankruptcy, 77 A.L.R.2d 1125.

Time for filing notice or claim of mechanic's lien where claimant has contracted with general contractor and later contracts directly with owner, 78 A.L.R.2d 1165.

Mechanic's lien for services in connection with subdividing land, 87 A.L.R.2d 1004.

What constitutes "commencement of building or improvement" for purposes of determining accrual of mechanic's lien, 1 A.L.R.3d 822.

Charge for use of machinery, tools, or appliances used in construction as basis for mechanic's lien, 3 A.L.R.3d 573.

Mechanic's lien based on contract with vendor pending executory contract for sale of property as affecting purchaser's interest, 50 A.L.R.3d 944.

Abandonment of construction or of contract as affecting time for filing mechanics' liens or time for giving notice to owner, 52 A.L.R.3d 797.

Assertion of statutory mechanic's or materialman's lien against oil and gas produced or against proceeds attributable to oil and gas sold, 59 A.L.R.3d 278.

Building and construction contracts: right of subcontractor who has dealt only with primary contractor to recover against property owner in quasi contract, 62 A.L.R.3d 288.

Enforceability of mechanic's lien attached to leasehold estate against landlord's fee, 74 A.L.R.3d 330.

Removal or demolition of building or other structure as basis for mechanic's lien, 74 A.L.R.3d 386.

Release or waiver of mechanic's lien by general contractor as affecting rights of subcontractor or materialman, 75 A.L.R.3d 505.

Landlord's remedy by way of distress or lien on defaulting tenant's property on leased premises as including right to collect for all unpaid utility expenses, 99 A.L.R.3d 1100.

Priority between attorney's lien for fees against a judgment and lien of creditor against same judgment, 34 A.L.R.4th 665.

Loss of garageman's lien on repaired vehicle by owner's use of vehicle, 74 A.L.R.4th 90.

Architect's services as within mechanics' lien statute, 31 A.L.R.5th 664.

Discharge of mortgage and taking back of new mortgage as affecting lien intervening between old and new mortgages, 43 A.L.R.5th 519.


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