Title 40 — Liens.

It shall be lawful for all persons keeping or boarding any animals at livery within the District, under any agreement with the owner thereof, to detain such animals until all charges under such agreement for the care, keep, or board of such animals shall have been paid; provided,…

(a) All persons storing, repairing, or furnishing supplies of or concerning motor vehicles including trailers shall have a lien for their agreed or reasonable charges for such storage, repairs, and supplies when such charges are incurred by an owner or conditional vendee or chatt…

(a) If the amount due and for which a lien is given by § 40-101 or 40-102 hereof is not paid by the end of 30 days after the giving of notice, then the party entitled to such lien may proceed to sell the property so subject to lien at public auction, after giving notice once a we…

The proceeds of such sale shall be applied: (1) To the expenses of such sales and the discharge of such lien; (2) To payment of other liens, if any, in the order of their priority; and (3) To the owner of the property.

To the extent that any lien provided for in this chapter is based on a claim for storage of a motor vehicle in excess of $150, such lien shall be, as to such excess, inferior to the lien of a conditional vendor or chattel mortgagee (as defined in § 40-102) claiming under an instr…

Every association, corporation, or other institution, and any agency of the United States or the District of Columbia, maintaining a hospital in the District of Columbia, which shall furnish medical or other service to any patient injured by reason of an accident causing injuries…

No such lien shall be effective, however, unless a written notice containing the name and address of the injured person, the date of the accident, the name and location of the hospital, and the name of the person or persons, firm or firms, corporation or corporations alleged to b…

Any person or persons, firm or firms, corporation or corporations, including an insurance carrier, making any payment to such patient or to his attorneys or heirs or legal representatives as compensation for the injury sustained, after the filing and mailing of such notice withou…

Any person or persons, firm or firms, corporation or corporations legally liable for such lien or against whom a claim shall be asserted for compensation for such injuries, shall be permitted to examine the ledger entries and similar records of any such association, corporation, …

The Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia shall provide a suitable bound book to be called the hospital lien docket, in which, upon the filing of any lien claim under the provisions of this chapter, he shall enter the name of the injured person, the name of the person, fi…

Every building erected, improved, added to, or repaired at the direction of the owner, or the owner’s authorized agent, and the land on which the same is erected, intended to be used in connection therewith, or necessary to the use and enjoyment thereof, to the extent of the righ…

(a)(1) A contractor desiring to enforce the lien shall record in the land records a notice of intent that identifies the property subject to the lien and states the amount due or to become due to the contractor. The notice of intent shall be recorded during the construction or wi…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Home improvement” means the repair, remodeling, alteration, conversion, or modernization of, or addition to, residential real property. (2) “Home improvement contract” means any written agreement, in a form that has been approved b…

Any person directly employed by a contractor described by § 40-301.01 (any such contractor also referred to herein as original contractor), whether the person is a subcontractor, materialman, or laborer, to furnish work or materials for the completion of the project, shall be ent…

(a) A lien in favor of parties so employed by the original contractor shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the contract, if any, between the owner and the original contractor except any terms and conditions therein that relate to the original contractor’s right to waiv…

The said subcontractor or other person employed by the contractor as aforesaid, besides filing a notice with the Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia as aforesaid, shall serve the same upon the owner of the property upon which the lien is claimed, by leaving a copy there…

After notice shall be filed by said party employed under the original contractor and a copy thereof served upon the owner or his agent as aforesaid, the owner shall be bound to retain out of any subsequent payments becoming due to the contractor a sufficient amount to satisfy any…

Any subcontractor or other person employed by the contractor as aforesaid shall be entitled to demand of the owner or his authorized agent a statement of the terms under which the work contracted for is being done and the amount due or to become due to the contractor executing th…

If the owner, for the purpose of avoiding the provisions hereof, and defeating the lien of the subcontractor or other person employed by the contractor, as aforesaid, shall make payments to the contractor in advance of the time agreed upon therefor in the contract, and the amount…

The lien hereby given shall be preferred to all judgments, mortgages, deeds of trusts, liens, and incumbrances which attach upon the building or ground affected by said lien subsequently to the commencement of the work upon the building, as well as to conveyances executed, but no…

The proceeding to enforce the lien hereby given shall be a bill in equity, which shall contain a brief statement of the contract on which the claim is founded, the amount due thereon, the time when the notice was filed with the Recorder of Deeds, and a copy thereof served on the …

If the right of the complainant, or of any of the parties to the suit, to the lien herein provided for shall be established, the court shall decree a sale of the land and premises or the estate and interest therein of the person who, as owner, contracted for the erection, repair,…

If the original contractor and the persons contracting or employed under him shall both have filed notices of liens, as aforesaid, the latter shall first be satisfied out of the proceeds of sale before the original contractor, but not in excess of the amount due him, and the bala…

If one, or some only, of the persons employed under the original contractor shall have served notice on the owner, as aforesaid, before payments made by him to the original contractor, said party or parties shall be entitled to priority of satisfaction out of said proceeds to the…

In case of labor done or materials furnished for the erection or repair of 2 or more buildings joined together and owned by the same person or persons, it shall not be necessary to determine the amount of work done or materials furnished for each separate building, but only the a…

(a)(1) Any person with a lien and who has recorded a valid notice of intent shall only enforce the lien by: (A) Filing suit under § 40-303.08 to enforce the lien at anytime within 180 days after the date that the notice of intent is recorded in the land records; and (B) Recording…

If there be any contest as to the dimensions of the land claimed to be subjected to the lien aforesaid, the court shall determine the same upon the evidence and describe the same in the decree of sale.

Whenever any person having a lien by virtue hereof shall have received satisfaction of his claim and cost, he shall, on the demand, and at the cost of the person interested, enter said claim satisfied, in the clerk’s office aforesaid, and on his failure or refusal so to do he sha…

(a) In any suit to enforce a lien under this chapter, the owner of the building and premises to which the lien may have attached may be allowed to either: (1) Pay into court the amount claimed by the lienor, and such additional amount, to cover interest and costs, as the court ma…

Repealed Repealed.

Such an undertaking as above mentioned may be offered before any suit brought in order to discharge the property from existing liens, in which case notice shall be given as aforesaid to the parties whose liens it is sought to have discharged, and the same proceedings shall be had…

If such undertaking be approved before any suit brought, such suit shall be a suit in equity against the owner, to which the sureties may be made parties; if the undertaking be approved after suit brought, the said sureties shall ipso facto become parties to the suit, and in eith…

No subcontractor, materialman, or workman employed under the original contractor shall be entitled to a personal judgment or decree against the owner of the premises for the amount due to him from said original contractor, except upon a special promise of such owner, in writing, …

In any suit brought to enforce a lien by virtue of the provisions aforesaid, if the proceeds of the property affected thereby shall be insufficient to satisfy such lien, a personal judgment for the deficiency may be given in favor of the lien or against the owner of the premises …

(a) The Mayor shall promulgate rules to implement this chapter. The proposed rules shall be transmitted to the Council for a 45-day period of review, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and days of Council recess. If the Council does not approve or disapprove the rules …

Any person who shall furnish materials or labor in filling up any lot or in constructing any wharf thereon, or dredging the channel of the river in front of any wharf, under any contract with the owner, shall be entitled to a lien for the value of such work or materials on said l…

Any mechanic or artisan who shall make, alter, or repair any article of personal property at the request of the owner shall have a lien thereon for his just and reasonable charges for his work done and materials furnished, and may retain the same in his possession until said char…

If the amount due and for which a lien is given by § 40-307.01 is not paid after the end of a month after the same is due, and the property bound by said lien does not exceed the sum of $50, then the party entitled to such lien, after demand of payment upon the debtor, if he be w…

If the value of the property so subject to lien shall exceed the sum of $50, the proceeding to enforce such lien shall be by bill or petition in equity, and the decree, which shall be rendered according to the due course of proceedings in equity, besides subjecting the thing upon…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Default” means the failure to perform any obligation or duty set forth in the rental agreement. (2) “Last known address” means the address provided by the occupant in the rental agreement or the address provided by the occupant in …

(a) An operator shall not knowingly permit a leased space at a self-service storage facility to be used as a residence. (b) An occupant shall not use a leased space as a residence.

(a) The operator shall have a lien on all personal property stored within each leased space for rent, labor, or other charges, and for expenses reasonably incurred in its sale, as provided in this chapter. (b) The rental agreement shall contain a statement, in bold type, advising…

(a)(1) If the occupant is in default for a period of more than 60 days, the operator may enforce the lien by selling the property stored in the leased space at a public sale. (2) Proceeds from the sale shall be applied to satisfy the lien, and any surplus shall be disbursed as pr…

Unless the rental agreement specifically provides otherwise and until a lien sale under this chapter, the exclusive care, custody, and control of all personal property stored in the leased self-service storage space shall remain vested in the occupant.