Sacramento Report
May 15, 2012
Wage Lien Bill with Super Priority and New Mechanics Lien Rights for Laborers
Assembly Bill 2517 (Eng) creates a wage lien bill for car wash employees that takes priority over all other debts, judgments, decrees, liens or mortgages perfected on or after January 1, 2013 except a tax lien and a purchase-money mortgage. An employee's lien would be effective against the employer’s real and person property, employer’s estate, or a subsequent bona fide purchaser of the project subject to the employee's lien.
The bill also changes the exiting mechanics’ lien law 1) regarding the time for laborers to file a lien, 2) provides that the lien has a super priority except for a pre-existing lien or mortgage recorded prior to commencement of the labor if the laborer is shown to have had actual knowledge of it prior to providing labor, and 3) permits the laborer to recover costs and attorneys fees which become part of the lien and relate back to the date of the lien recording.
Needless to say, the CLTA opposes the bill that nevertheless passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 6-3 vote.
