ALL STATE PLUMBING, INC., RUSTY PLUMBING COMPANY OF MIAMI, INC., AND A.J. SOUTHERN ENTERPRISES ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
MUTUAL SECURITY LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE
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Subcontractors without privity to a mortgagee cannot establish an equitable lien superior to a prior recorded mortgage, and a mechanics lien that is foreclosed merges into the resulting judgment, which remains inferior to the prior mortgage.
A subcontractor lacking privity with a mortgagee cannot establish an equitable lien superior to a prior recorded mortgage, and a foreclosed mechanics lien merges into the judgment and remains subordinate to the prior mortgage.
[1] A subcontractor holding a mechanics lien or equitable lien cannot establish priority over a prior recorded mortgage absent privity with the mortgagee.
[2] When a mechanics lien is foreclosed and merges into a judgment, the resulting judgment remains subordinate to any prior recorded mortgage.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSubcontractors (All State Plumbing, Rusty Plumbing, and A.J. Southern Enterprises) sought to establish liens on property encumbered by a prior recorde…
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PER CURIAM.
Where no contract has been shown between a subcontractor and the mortgagee, privity fails and the subcontractor cannot establish an equitable lien on the property superior to a prior recorded mortgage. Gancedo Lumber Co. v. Flagship First Nat’l Bank, 340 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 947 (Fla.1977); Security Life Ins. Co. v. Travis, 340 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). Absent some special circumstance, a mortgagee has no duty to subcontractors holding inferior liens either to supervise construction or to see that loan proceeds are used to pay construction expenses. Rice v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 207 So. 2d 22 (Fla. 2d DCA), cert. denied, 212 So. 2d 879 (Fla.1968); accord Armetta v. Clevetrust Realty Investors, 359 So. 2d 540 (Fla. 4th DCA), cert. denied, 366 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 1978); First Wis. Nat’l Bank v. Roose, 348 So. 2d 610 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977).
Where the subcontractor is a mechanics lienholder who foreclosed its lien and obtained a foreclosure judgment against the property owner, the lien merges into that judgment and the lienholder becomes a judgment creditor. Nassau Realty Co. v. City of Jacksonville, 144 Fla. 754, 198 So. 581 (1940). It follows that the subsequently obtained judgment is inferior to the prior recorded mortgage. Fernandez-Aguirre v. Gall, 484 So. 2d 1286 (Fla.3d DCA 1986); Baron v. Aiello, 319 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); Silverman v. Rubin, 225 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969); County of Pinellas v. Clearwater Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 214 So. 2d 525 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968).
Accordingly, the order under review is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Winer Mathieu v. City OF Lauderdale Lakes, 961 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…ecember 1, 2003.” Where a lienholder forecloses its lien and obtains a foreclosure judgment against the property owner, the lien merges into that judgment and the lienholder becomes a judgment creditor. All State Plumbing v. Mut. Sec. Life Ins. Co., 537 So. 2d 598, 599 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (citing Nassati Realty Co. v. City of Jacksonville, 144 Fla. 754, 198 So. 581 (1940)). Therefore, as argued by Lauderdale Lakes, all issues and defenses related to the original code enforcement liens were merged into the Dece…
Authorities Cited (12 total)
- Cnty. OF Pinellas v. Clearwater Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 214 So. 2d 525 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)
- Raleigh W. Rice et ux. v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n of Lake Cnty., 207 So. 2d 22 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)
- Gancedo Lumber Co., Inc. v. Flagship First Nat'l Bank of Miami Beach, 340 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)
- Weissman v. RAY, 359 So. 2d 540 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
- Fernandez-Aguirre v. Lilly Gall, 484 So. 2d 1286 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
- Nassau Realty Co., Inc. v. City of Jacksonville, 144 Fla. 754 (Fla. 1940)
- Marylin S. Baron v. Aiello, 319 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
- First Wis. Nat'l Bank OF Milwaukee v. Roose, 348 So. 2d 610 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)
- Rice v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n of Lake Cnty., 212 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 1968)
- State ex rel. Robert Louis LEE v. Carling Stedman, 212 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 1968)