Francis Chapman
Published: 2015-07-12
Total Pages: 158
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Excerpt from Mechanics' Liens in Pennsylvania: Under the Act of June 4, 1901 P. L. 431, and Supplements Thereto; With Forms, and Decisions to Date The first Mechanics' Lien law in Pennsylvania was the Act of April 1, 1803, P. L. 591, which applied only to portions of the City of Philadelphia. Other Acts were from time to time enacted without regard to "regular order or proportion" and the resulting confusion was so great that in 1898, the Pennsylvania Bar Association instructed the Committee on Law Reform to consider the state of the Mechanics' Lien law and "in the event of their deeming it proper, recommending the enactment of such laws as may in the opinion of the Committee meet the necessities of the case." In 1899 the Committee reported to the Bar Association, the draft of the Act, now known as the Mechanics' Lien Act of 1901. In drafting the Act, the Committee examined all the lien laws enacted in Pennsylvania as well as other States. The principles governing the Committee in the preparation of the Act are thus stated in the report to the Bar Association: "In so far as it was deemed possible so to do, we have adhered to the existing law and practice of this State, rather than make immaterial changes in accordance with the laws and practice of other States. This has been done partly because of the well established principle that he who asks a change has the burden of proof to show the necessity for it; partly because a method well understood should not be changed except for grave cause; partly because our methods are alone consonant with our general system of laws; and partly because an attentive study of the statutes of other States has satisfied us that the basic principles of ours are to be preferred. We have not hesitated, however, in extending the rights as well of the owner as of the lien claimant, where existing laws, and the decisions under them have shown the necessity therefor. While we cannot claim that the Act we have drafted is either perfect or strictly logical, we trust it will be found that care has been exercised in conserving, as far as may be, the rights of all concerned." The Act thus drafted was enacted practically without change. Subsequent legislation has been intended to correct minor defects which time has revealed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.