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Mechanic's Lien Doesn't Attach to Landscaping Work
In order for a person to perfect a mechanic's lien, that "person must perform or furnish labor or furnish materials that are 'actually used in the erection, alteration, or repair of a building or structure upon real estate.'" Raymond Skiba v. Marjorie Sue Gessner and Terra Monty Matlock, Opinion No. 26363 (July 23, 2007) (citing S.C. Code Ann. 29-5-10(a) (2007)). Further, S.C. Code Ann. 29-5-10(a) provides that the "labor performed or furnished in the erection, alteration, or repair of any building or structure upon any real estate includes the . . . work of making the real estate suitable as a site for the building or structure."
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently interpreted this statute holding that a mechanic's lien could not attach to work that was "completed for the purpose of preparing the land for landscaping and not in connection with the erection, alteration, or repair of a building or structure." Raymond Skiba v. Marjorie Sue Gessner and Terra Monty Matlock, Opinion No. 26363 (July 23, 2007). As support for its holding, the Court cited Clo-Car Trucking Co., Inc. v. Clifflure Estates of South Carolina, Inc., 282 S.C. 573, 320 S.E.2d 51 (Ct. App. 1984) which held that no mechanic's lien would attach when land was cleared and graded for the purpose of constructing a road.
As such, these cases instruct that mechanic's liens will not attach when work is performed to prepare land for the construction of a road or in preparation of constructing a road. Instead, only sitework necessary for construction of a building or structure may allow a mechanic's lien to attach.
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