§ 16.4 Amount of the Lien

LibraryConstruction Law in Oregon (OSBar) (2019 Ed.)
§ 16.4 AMOUNT OF THE LIEN

§ 16.4-1 In General

Although a person who provides labor, materials, or equipment must have a contract with the owner of the improvement or the owner's construction agent to create a construction lien (see § 16.2-4 to § 16.2-4(a)), only those persons who have contracts with the owner of the improvement, and who are therefore original contractors, are entitled to claim the contract price as the amount of their lien. See Lakeview Drilling Co. v. Stark, 210 Or 306, 313-14, 310 P2d 627 (1957).

Because a construction agent is not considered the general common-law agent of the owner, there is no privity of contract between a person who contracts with an improvement owner's construction agent and the owner. As such, these claimants are allowed to perfect valid liens only for the reasonable value of their efforts. Lakeview Drilling Co., 210 Or at 313-14. However, ORS 87.070 (which provides that a contractor may recover "only the...

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