Artisans & Service Liens

"If a person in the ordinary course of the person's business furnishes services or materials with respect to goods subject to a lease contract, a lien upon those goods in the possession of that person for those materials or services takes priority over any interest of the lessor or lessee under the lease contract unless the lien is created by statute and the statute provides otherwise or unless the lien is created by rule of law and the rule of law provides otherwise. N.J. STAT. ANN. 12A:2A-306

Any contractor, subcontractor or supplier who provides work, services, material or equipment pursuant to a contract, shall be entitled to a lien for the value of the work or services performed, or materials or equipment furnished in accordance with the contract and based upon the contract price. The lien attaches to the interest of the owner or unit owner of the real property development, or is filed against the community association. N.J. STAT. ANN. 2A:44A-3

Improvements which attach liens attach to real property are listed in N.J. STAT. ANN. 2A:44A-4

Prohibited liens are listed under N.J. STAT. ANN. 2A:44A-5.

New Jersey also recognizes certain statutory repairmen and artisan's liens. These liens are determined by the specific types of property and services involved and include aircraft liens, dry- cleaning laundering and tailoring business liens, garage keepers and automobile repairman liens, maritime liens, monument liens, processors of goods liens, processors or motion picture film lines, and watch and jewelry liens. See N.J. STAT. ANN. 2A:44-1 to 44-174. "

"At common law, New Jersey recognizes an artisan's lien. See Ferrante Equipment Company v. Foley Machinery Co., 49 N.J. 432 (1967); Beck v. Neutrodynamics, Inc., 77 N.J. Super. 448 (Cty. Ct. 1962). For an artisan's lien, a claimant must prove the following: (1) the chattel was bailed to the claimant; (2) the claimant expended skill and labor in improvement of the chattel; (3) the claimant conferred upon the chattel additional value; (4) the claimant had the express or implied of owner to do the work; and (5) the claimant was employed for the purpose of rendering a service. See Kalio Universal, Inc. v. B.A.M., Inc., 95 N.J. Super. 393 (App. Div. 1967).

An artisan's lien depends on possession, and will be lost only if the lienholder's voluntarily abandons or surrenders possession and/or control of the property. See Beck v. Nutrodynamics, 77 N.J. Super. 458, 450 (1962). Surrender of property to a sheriff, pursuant to a writ of attachment, does not destroy this common law lien. See id.

The artisan's lien covers only charges for work done, and arising because of the lienholder's providing services to improve the chattel. See O'Brien v. Buxton, 9 N.J. Misc. 876 (Cty. Ct. 1931). An artisan's lien is senior to a consensual lienholder. See Ferrante Equip. Co. v. Foley Mach. Co., 49 N.J. 432 (1967)."

Although an artisan lien is a common law lien, New Jersey statute does recognize the existence of this lien. See N.J. STAT. ANN. 2A:44-32. This section provides that "a lien held by a person upon chattels in his possession for labor, or materials furnished in the repair or construction thereof, shall not be waiver, merged or impaired by the recovery of a judgment for the monies due for such labor or material, but the lien may be enforced by levy and sale under execution upon a judgment." See id.