Abstract

The mechanics' lien is a security device to insure the mechanic or materialman payment for work performed or materials furnished in the erection, improvement, or repair of buildings or other structures on real property, or for work performed or materials furnished for improvement of the land itself. The primary purpose of the mechanics' lien law, as viewed by the Arizona Supreme Court, is to assure to the laborer or materialman the payment of his accounts. This purpose can be accomplished only if the mechanic or materialman is able to determine without serious difficulty which section of the lien law to consult for his remedy, and, having accomplished this, to determine the extent of real property to which his lien will attach under the applicable section. Quite obviously, the purpose of the statute is defeated if the aggrieved party must resort to judicial process to determine the answer to a problem which good statutory construction and design could easily have disclosed. However, as this comment will illustrate, the mechanic or materialman, upon consulting the Arizona statute, is presented with numerous problems regarding which sections apply in any given case and the amount of real property to which his lien attaches under these sections.

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