DONALD R. LEGAULT, APPELLANT,
v.
SUNCOAST LAWN SERVICE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Appellant Legault challenged a mechanic's lien foreclosure judgment entered against him by Suncoast Lawn Service for lawn mowing and shrub cutting services. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that routine maintenance landscaping services do not qualify for mechanic's lien protection under Florida law because they do not result in a permanent benefit to the property.
No. The court held that maintenance landscaping services, as opposed to landscaping improvements such as planting, do not confer a permanent benefit on real property and therefore do not entitle a service provider to assert a mechanic's lien under Florida law.
[1] Maintenance landscaping services, such as mowing lawns and cutting shrubbery, do not confer a permanent benefit upon the land and therefore do not entitle a laborer to a…
[2] A mechanic's lien requires an improvement that results in a permanent benefit to the real property.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Section 713.01(8), Florida Statutes, requires that an improvement, in order to support a mechanic's lien, must result in a permanent benefit to the land or other real property.”
Establishes the statutory requirement that mechanic's liens must be tied to permanent improvements
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSuncoast Lawn Service filed a mechanic's lien against Legault's property for $2,194, claiming compensation for lawn mowing and shrub cutting services.…
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DELL, Judge.
Appellant seeks reversal of a final judgment awarding appellee damages based upon its mechanic’s lien, together with costs and attorney’s fees.
Appellee filed a mechanic’s lien against appellant’s property claiming appellant owed $2,194 for “lawn service.” Appellee' filed a one county complaint seeking to foreclose the mechanic’s lien pursuant to Chapter 713, Florida Statutes (1985). Ap-pellee, by failing to respond to a request for admissions, admitted that the work allegedly performed consisted of mowing appellant’s lawn and cutting shrubbery. Appellant contends that cutting grass and shrubbery does not entitle appellee to a mechanic’s lien pursuant to Chapter 713, Florida Statutes. We agree.
The relevant sections of Chapter 713 include:
713.05 Liens of persons in privity.— ... No person shall have a lien under this section except those lienors specified in it, as their designations are defined in s-713.01.
713.01 Definitions. — As used in this part:
(7) “Improve” means ... perform any labor or services or furnish any materials in grading, seeding, sodding, or planting for landscaping purposes, including the furnishing of trees, shrubs, bushes, or plants that are planted on the real property. ...
(8) “Improvement” means any ... landscaping ... done on land or other real property for its permanent benefit. [Emphasis added.]
The record before us demonstrates only that appellee performed services consisting of mowing appellant’s lawn and cutting appellant’s shrubbery. Section 713.01(8), Florida Statutes, requires that an improvement, in order to support a mechanic’s lien, must result in a permanent benefit to the land or other real property. E. and E. Electric Co. v. Gold Coast 72nd Street Diner, Inc., 116 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1959). Although planting for landscaping purposes may be considered a permanent improvement, maintenance landscaping services do not bestow a permanent benefit upon the land, and do not entitle the laborer to a mechanic’s lien. D.M. Foley Co. v. North West Federal Savings and Loan Association, 122 Ill.App.3d 411, 77 Ill.Dec. 877, 461 N.E. 2d 500 (Ill. 1st DCA 1984). Therefore we hold that the trial court erred when it found that appellee’s services entitled it to a mechanic’s lien.
Accordingly, we reverse the final judgment in favor of appellee and the trial court’s judgment awarding appellee costs and attorney’s fees. We remand this case to the trial court with directions to enter judgment in favor of appellant and to award appellant taxable costs and reasonable attorney’s fees as provided by Section 713.29, Florida Statutes (1985).
REVERSED and REMANDED.
LETTS and WALDEN, JJ., concur.
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Levin v. Palm Coast Builders & Constr., Inc., 840 So. 2d 316 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…he “permanent benefit” of the land. § 713.01(14), Florida Statutes (2001). Although planting landscaping would constitute an improvement, maintaining it does not, for purposes of qualifying the labor for a lien. Legault v. Suncoast Lawn Serv., Inc., 486 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). We find no error in the trial court’s conclusion that the above items were not lienable, or the finding that the lien was fraudulent. Whether this was willful exaggeration under section 713.31(2)(a) was an issue of fact. As the…
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Parc Cent. Aventura E. Condo. v. Victoria Grp. Servs., LLC, 54 So. 3d 532 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)…d to our analysis in E & E Electric in concluding that lawn mowing and shrubbery cutting services were not lienable under Florida’s Mechanics’ Lien Law, although the actual planting of plants and trees might be. Legault v. Suncoast Lawn Serv., Inc., 486 So. 2d 72, 73 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). Similarly, the only other state court our research revealed to have considered an analogous factual circumstance, concluded the services provided in that case-cleaning of stairways, washroom grouting, and sealing of washroom…
Authorities Cited
- E & E Elec. Co., Inc. v. Gold Coast 72ND St. Diner, Inc., 116 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)