Code of Alabama - Title 35: Property - Chapter 11 - Liens

• Article 1 General Provisions.
• Section 35-11-1 Statutory modes of enforcement not exclusive
  The statutory modes provided in this chapter for the enforcement of liens are not the exclusive modes of enforcing such liens, but are cumulative merely....
• Section 35-11-2 Rights of inferior lienors
  One who has a lien inferior to another, upon the same property, has a right: (1) To redeem the property in the same manner as...
• Section 35-11-3 Right to redeem; subrogation
  Every person, having an interest in property subject to a lien, has a right to discharge the lien at any time after the claim is...
• Section 35-11-4 Order of resort to different things
  Where one has a lien upon different things, and other persons have subordinate liens upon, or interests in, some but not all of the same...
• Section 35-11-5 Affidavit and bond required before issue of attachment
  In all cases in this chapter where the process of attachment is authorized, and unless otherwise particularly provided for in the article declaring the lien,...
• Section 35-11-6 Limitations; trial of cases of attachment
  All cases arising under the provisions of this chapter where the process of attachment is authorized for the enforcement of any lien declared hereby, except...
• Article 2 Liens for Stumpage.
• Section 35-11-20 Lien declared
  Owners of land, or their assignees, shall have a lien upon timber sold therefrom for purposes of rafting, shipping, or manufacture, for the stipulated price...
• Section 35-11-21 Enforcement
  For the enforcement of such lien, the owners of such land or their assignees, may have process of attachment from any court having jurisdiction of...
• Article 3 Federal Lien Registration.
• Division 1 Lien for United States Taxes.
• Section 35-11-40 Filing of notice of lien
  Repealed by Acts 1989, No. 89-948, p. 1868.
• Section 35-11-41 Record of notices
  Repealed by Acts 1989, No. 89-948, p. 1868.
• Division 2 Alabama Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act.
• Section 35-11-42 Short title
  This division may be cited as the "Alabama Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act."
• Section 35-11-43 Scope
  This division applies only to federal tax liens and to other federal liens notices of which under any act of congress or any regulation adopted...
• Section 35-11-44 Place of filing
  (a) Notices of liens, certificates, and other notices affecting federal tax liens or other federal liens must be filed in accordance with this division. (b)...
• Section 35-11-45 Execution of notices and certificates
  Certification of notices of liens, certificates, or other notices affecting federal liens by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States or his delegate,...
• Section 35-11-46 Duties of filing officer
  (a) If a notice of a federal lien, a refiling of a notice of federal lien, or a notice of revocation of any certificate described...
• Section 35-11-47 Fees
  The fee for filing and indexing each notice of lien or certificate or notice affecting the lien is: (1) For a lien on real estate,...
• Section 35-11-48 Uniformity of application and construction
  This division shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this division...
• Article 4 Liens on Watercraft.
• Section 35-11-60 Lien declared
  A lien is hereby declared on any ship, steamboat, or other watercraft, whether registered, enrolled, or licensed or not, that may be built, repaired, fitted,...
• Article 5 Liens of Particular Persons or Classes of Persons.
• Division 1 Agisters or Trainers.
• Section 35-11-70 Lien on stock for pasturage or training
  (a) Any keeper, owner, operator, or proprietor of any pasture kept for grazing stock or of any cattle or livestock feed or fattening lot, or...
• Section 35-11-71 Lien on birds or animals for feeding, boarding or training
  The owner, keeper, or proprietor of any premises kept for grazing, feeding, boarding, training, or confining birds or animals for another shall have a lien...
• Section 35-11-72 Lien of landlord on stock raised on rented premises
  (a) Owners of land, or their assignees, shall have a lien upon all livestock raised, grown, or grazed upon rented land for the rent of...
• Division 2 Agricultural Superintendents and Laborers; Railroad Employees.
• Section 35-11-90 Lien declared in favor of railroad laborers and employees
  Laborers and employees of each railroad company operated in this state, except the officers thereof, shall have a lien for all debts due to them...
• Section 35-11-91 Lien declared in favor of agricultural laborers and superintendents
  Agricultural laborers and superintendents of plantations shall have a lien upon the crops grown during the current year in and about which they are employed,...
• Section 35-11-92 Right to enforce liens by attachment
  For the enforcement of such liens the persons entitled may sue out attachments before any officer authorized to issue such writs, returnable before any court...
• Section 35-11-93 When attachment by agricultural laborer or plantation superintendent attaches; additional affidavit
  An agricultural laborer or superintendent of a plantation may sue out an attachment, whether his demand is due or not; but, in either event, he...
• Section 35-11-94 Crop leviable only to extent necessary to satisfy demand and costs
  When an attachment is sued out by an agricultural laborer or superintendent of a plantation, it shall not be levied on a greater portion of...
• Section 35-11-95 Property or proceeds subject to garnishment
  All the property upon which a lien is created under the provisions of this division, or the proceeds thereof, in the hands of third parties,...
• Section 35-11-96 Satisfaction of claims for rent and advances
  No part of any crop levied on under the provisions of this division shall be removed from the premises on which it was raised until...
• Section 35-11-97 Satisfaction of prior liens
  Any officer enforcing the satisfaction of any lien under the provisions of this division shall first apply the proceeds of the crop or property in...
• Division 3 Mechanics, Blacksmiths and Woodworkmen.
• Section 35-11-110 Lien declared
  Any blacksmith, woodworkman, or other mechanic who contributes his labor and material, or either, to the production, manufacture, or repair of any vehicle, implement, machine,...
• Section 35-11-111 Right to enforce lien by attachment
  Any person entitled thereto may enforce such lien in any court of competent jurisdiction, by attachment issued by any officer authorized to issue such writs,...
• Section 35-11-112 Joinder of persons having liens on same property
  (a) Persons having liens under the provisions of this division, on the same property, may join in the same action for the enforcement of their...
• Division 4 Hotel, etc., and Restaurant Keepers.
• Section 35-11-130 Lien declared
  Keepers of hotels, inns, boarding houses, and restaurants shall have a lien on the goods and personal baggage of their guests and boarders to secure...
• Section 35-11-131 Enforcement of lien
  The lien of keepers of hotels, inns, boarding houses, and restaurants on the goods and personal baggage of their guests and boarders may be enforced...
• Division 5 Jewelers, Watchmakers and Silversmiths.
• Section 35-11-150 Lien declared
  Every jeweler, watchmaker, and silversmith who shall alter, repair, or do any work on any article of personal property at the request of the owner...
• Section 35-11-151 Enforcement of lien
  If such debt remains unpaid for 12 months or more, then the jeweler, watchmaker, or silversmith may sell such article at private or public sale...
• Division 6 Laundries, Cleaners, etc.
• Section 35-11-170 Lien declared
  Every person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of laundering, cleaning, pressing, and mending or otherwise renovating wearing apparel, household linens, and articles of...
• Section 35-11-171 Enforcement of lien
  If such debt remains unpaid for three months or more, the party rendering such service may sell such article at private or public sale and...
• Division 7 Livery Stable Keepers.
• Section 35-11-190 Lien declared
  Any keeper, owner or proprietor of a livery stable, or other place for feeding and caring for stock for pay, shall have a lien on...
• Section 35-11-191 Enforcement of lien
  If the charges when due are not paid within 10 days after demand therefor, such keeper, owner, or proprietor is authorized, on giving 10 days'...
• Division 8 Mechanics and Materialmen.
• Section 35-11-210 Lien declared
  Every mechanic, person, firm, or corporation who shall do or perform any work, or labor upon, or furnish any material, fixture, engine, boiler, waste disposal...
• Section 35-11-211 Priority of lien
  (a) Such lien as to the land and buildings or improvements thereon, shall have priority over all other liens, mortgages, or incumbrances created subsequent to...
• Section 35-11-212 Building or improvement on leased land
  (a) When the building or improvement is erected under or by virtue of any contract with a lessee in possession, and the erection thereof is...
• Section 35-11-213 Verified statement - Duty to file; contents; form
  It shall be the duty of every person entitled to such lien to file in the office of the judge of probate of the county...
• Section 35-11-214 Verified statement - How oath administered out of state
  If the oath to such statement is made beyond this state, it may be administered by any officer authorized to take acknowledgements and proof of...
• Section 35-11-215 Verified statement - Time for filing
  The lien declared in this division shall be deemed lost unless the statement referred to in Section 35-11-213 shall be filed by every original contractor...
• Section 35-11-216 Verified statement - Indorsement by probate judge; recordation; fee
  The judge of probate shall indorse on such statement the date of its filing, and shall record the same in a book kept for that...
• Section 35-11-217 Selection of land to be charged in certain cases
  When the land on which the building or improvement is situated is not in a city or town and exceeds in area one acre, any...
• Section 35-11-218 Notice of lien claimed by persons other than original contractor
  Every person, except the original contractor, who may wish to avail himself of the provisions of this division, shall before filing his statement in the...
• Section 35-11-219 List of materialmen, laborers, and employees; effect of failure to pay materialmen, etc
  The original contractor shall, when so required, furnish to the owner or proprietor a complete list of all materialmen, laborers, and employees who have furnished...
• Section 35-11-220 Jurisdiction of actions for enforcement of liens
  When the amount involved exceeds $50.00, actions for the enforcement of liens under this division may be brought in the circuit court having jurisdiction in...
• Section 35-11-221 Limitation of actions
  Any action for the enforcement of the lien declared in this division must be commenced within six months after the maturity of the entire indebtedness...
• Section 35-11-222 How action commenced; pleadings, practice, and proceedings
  Such actions, when brought in the circuit court, shall be commenced by summons and complaint. The complaint shall contain a description of the property on...
• Section 35-11-223 Parties
  (a) In such actions, all persons interested in the matter in controversy, or in the property charged with the lien, may be made parties; but...
• Section 35-11-224 Issues; finding or verdict; judgment generally
  Any defendant, by appropriate plea, may put in issue the fact of indebtedness or the existence of the lien, or both, and may interpose any...
• Section 35-11-225 Judgment by default
  Judgment by default may be entered against any defendant, except infants and persons non compos mentis, who, after service has been perfected on him, fails...
• Section 35-11-226 Enforcement of judgments
  (a) Judgments establishing the lien, and ordering the property sold for the satisfaction thereof, may be enforced by writs of fieri facias or venditioni exponas;...
• Section 35-11-227 Actions by employees, etc.; defense by contractor
  (a) If the action is by an employee of the contractor, or by any person who has furnished to him material for the building or...
• Section 35-11-228 Liens stand on equal footing; exception; distribution of proceeds
  All liens arising under this division, except in favor of the original contractor, shall stand on an equal footing, and be first paid out of...
• Section 35-11-229 Actions by personal representatives
  If any person entitled to a lien under this division shall die before the time has elapsed for filing his statement in the office of...
• Section 35-11-230 Actions against personal representatives
  The provisions of this Code prohibiting the bringing of actions against personal representatives within six months after the grant of letters shall not apply to...
• Section 35-11-231 Acknowledgment of satisfaction
  (a) Whenever any such lien has been fully satisfied, the holder thereof must acknowledge satisfaction of the same on the margin of the record in...
• Section 35-11-232 "Owner or proprietor" defined
  Every person, including cestuis que trust, for whose use, benefit, or enjoyment any building or improvement shall be made, is embraced within the words "owner...
• Section 35-11-233 Assignment of lien; transfer of lien on real property to other security
  (a) Any claim for which a lien is provided in this division may be assigned; and the assignee shall thereby be invested with all the...
• Section 35-11-234 Subrogation
  The owner of any lien on land or improvements who shall pay to any materialman or mechanic the contract price for materials furnished or labor...
• Division 9 Sawmill Owners or Operators.
• Section 35-11-250 Lien declared
  Any person, firm, or corporation operating a public sawmill shall have a lien, paramount to all other liens, upon all lumber sawed by such mill...
• Section 35-11-251 Enforcement of lien
  (a) If the charges, when due, are not paid within 10 days after demand therefor, the owner of such sawmill is authorized, if he has...
• Division 10 Sawmill, Lumber or Timber Employees or Laborers.
• Section 35-11-270 Lien declared
  Every laborer or employee of any sawmill or planing mill and every laborer or employee of any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the getting,...
• Section 35-11-271 Priority of lien
  Such lien shall have priority over all other liens, mortgages, or incumbrances created subsequent to the beginning of the work or labor done in the...
• Section 35-11-272 Limitations
  The liens created by this division shall be held to have been waived or abandoned unless proceedings to enforce the same are commenced within 60...
• Section 35-11-273 Enforcement of lien
  For the enforcement of such liens, the person entitled thereto may sue out attachment before any officer authorized to issue such writs, returnable before any...
• Division 11 For Processing Certain Commodities.
• Section 35-11-290 Lien declared
  Every owner of a cotton gin, peanut machine, or picker, or hay baling machine or press, or plant for drying or processing planting seeds, shall...
• Section 35-11-291 Enforcement of lien
  (a) When the processor retains possession of the commodity subject to the lien, and the charges or tolls due are not paid within 10 days...
• Division 12 Owners of Booms and Bulkheads.
• Section 35-11-310 Lien declared
  Any riparian proprietor who has lawfully erected or maintains in front of his property, in any water of this state, any boom, bulkhead, piles, or...
• Section 35-11-311 Enforcement of lien
  For the enforcement of such lien, the owner of such boom, bulkhead, piles or other structure, may have process of attachment from any court having...
• Division 13 Owners of Stallions, Jacks, Bulls, etc.
• Section 35-11-330 Lien declared
  The owner of every stallion, jack, bull, ram, he-goat, or boar, who keeps it for profit and charges a price for the service thereof, shall...
• Section 35-11-331 Enforcement of lien
  For the enforcement of such lien the owner of any such animal may have process of attachment from any court having jurisdiction of the amount...
• Division 14 Tenants in Common.
• Section 35-11-350 Lien declared
  Persons farming on shares, or raising crops by joint contributions, in such manner as to make them tenants in common in such crops, or their...
• Section 35-11-351 Enforcement of lien
  Such lien may be enforced by attachment upon the grounds and in the manner provided for the enforcement of the landlord's lien on crops grown...
• Division 15 Hospitals.
• Section 35-11-370 Lien declared
  Any person, firm, hospital authority, or corporation operating a hospital in this state shall have a lien for all reasonable charges for hospital care, treatment,...
• Section 35-11-371 Perfection of lien
  (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) HEALTH CARE PAYOR. A health care insurer, health maintenance...
• Section 35-11-372 Release or satisfaction
  (a) During the period of time allowed by Section 35-11-371 for perfecting the lien, including that period of time during which the hospital is awaiting...
• Section 35-11-373 Jurisdiction to determine matters connected with lien; appeals
  In any case where the action, claim, counterclaim or demand accruing to the person to whom hospital care has been furnished has been reduced to...
• Section 35-11-374 Division not applicable to moneys due under Workmen's Compensation Act
  The provisions of this division shall not apply to any moneys becoming due under the Workmen's Compensation Act.
• Section 35-11-375 Hospital not given independent right to determine liability for injuries
  This division shall not be construed as giving any hospital or agency referred to in this division an independent right of action to determine liability...
• Division 16 Veterinarians.
• Section 35-11-390 Lien declared
  Every veterinarian duly licensed to practice veterinary medicine and surgery in the state of Alabama who holds a certificate of qualification as provided by chapter...
• Section 35-11-391 Enforcement of lien
  (a) If the charges due for the services named in Section 35-11-390 are not paid within 10 days after demand therefor on the owner of...
• Division 17 Improvements on Public Streets, etc.
• Section 35-11-410 Lien declared
  Every person, firm or corporation who shall do or perform any work or labor upon, or furnish any material for, any paving, curb, gutter, storm...
• Section 35-11-411 Priority of lien
  Such lien as to the land and buildings and improvements thereon shall have priority over all other liens, mortgages, or encumbrances created subsequent to the...
• Section 35-11-412 Filing of verified statement; limitation of actions
  (a) It shall be the duty of every person entitled to such a lien to file in the office of the judge of probate of...
• Section 35-11-413 Jurisdiction; how action commenced
  Actions for the enforcement of liens under this division may be brought in the circuit court in the county in which the property is situated....
• Section 35-11-414 Judgment
  If the court by its finding, or the jury by their verdict, as the case may be, ascertains that the plaintiff has a lien as...
• Section 35-11-415 Actions against personal representatives
  The provisions of this Code prohibiting the bringing of actions against personal representatives within six months after the granting of letters shall not apply to...
• Section 35-11-416 Acknowledgment of satisfaction
  Whenever any such lien has been fully satisfied, the holder thereof must acknowledge satisfaction of the same on the margin of the record in the...
• Section 35-11-417 Assignment of claims
  Any claim for which a lien is provided in this division may be assigned and the assignee shall thereby be invested with all of the...
• Division 18 Appliances, Machinery and Equipment Used for Land Clearing or Improvements.
• Section 35-11-430 Lien declared
  Every person, firm, or corporation renting or leasing any appliance, machinery, or equipment to another for use in construction of a building or improvement on...
• Section 35-11-431 Perfection and enforcement of lien
  The lien hereby created shall arise, be perfected and enforced in the same manner as liens otherwise provided for in division 8 of this article,...
• Division 19 Broker Compensation for Sale, Lease, or Conveyance of Commercial Real Estate.
• Section 35-11-450 Definitions
  As used in this division the following terms have the following meanings: (1) BROKER. A broker as defined in Section 34-27-2. (2) CLIENT. A person...
• Section 35-11-451 Brokers lien generally; recording notice; notice requirements; enforcement of lien
  (a) A real estate broker shall have a lien, in the amount of the compensation agreed upon by and between the broker and his or...
• Section 35-11-452 Priority of lien
  All mortgages, other liens recorded prior to the recording of the broker's lien provided by this division, all purchase money mortgages, and all liens for...
• Section 35-11-453 Escrow accounts
  Except as otherwise provided in this section, whenever a notice of lien has been given or recorded, an escrow account may be, but is not...
• Section 35-11-454 Release, etc., of lien
  (a) Whenever a notice of lien has been filed with the office of the judge of probate and a condition occurs that would preclude the...

Last modified: May 3, 2021