” Upon execution of the “Builder's Agreement,” Oles and Hilbert paid a $3,200.00 deposit to Wyatt, and committed themselves to pay the balance of the $151,000.00 purchase price at closing. This property was identified, in the “Builder's Agreement,” as Lot 54 of Shiloh Run, improved by a “Lauren III model” house, to be constructed by Wyatt “substantially according to plans and specifications on file with and the selection sheet signed by. Hilbert, signed a contract, entitled “Builder's Agreement,” in which Wyatt agreed to sell and Oles and Hilbert agreed to purchase the property designated 3839 Dakota Road, in Shiloh Run. On June 14, 1995, Marsar Development Corporation, trading as Wyatt Homes (“Wyatt”), purchased a tract of land in Carroll County, Maryland, comprising Lots 51 through 84 of “Shiloh Run,” a planned residential housing development. Accordingly, we affirm the court's denial of the petition to establish mechanics' lien. Although the circuit court erred in determining that Wolf did not comply with the notice requirement of Section 9-104 of the Mechanics' Lien Statute, that error was harmless, as § 9-104 did not apply to the claim before it. We hold that the lower court correctly ruled that Oles and Hilbert were not “owners” of the property within the meaning of the Maryland Mechanics' Lien Statute, and that their equitable interest in the property, and hence the property itself, was not subject to a mechanics' lien. II. Whether the trial court erred in determining that service of a notice of intention to claim mechanics' lien upon Oles, when he was an equitable owner but not a legal owner of the property, did not comport with Section 9-104(a) of the Mechanics' Lien Statute. Whether the trial court erred in ruling that Oles and Hilbert, as contract purchasers, were not “owners” of the property, within the meaning of Section 9-101(f) of the Mechanics' Lien Statute. On appeal, Wolf presents the following questions for review, which we have rephrased slightly:
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The circuit court denied Wolf's petition.
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The petition was filed after the property, including a newly constructed single-family residence, had been conveyed in fee simple to appellees Michael T. In this case, we are called upon to decide whether one who executes a contract with an owner/builder to purchase real property improved by a dwelling to be constructed during the executory period is an “owner” of the property, whose equitable interest may be reached by a mechanics' lien, under the Maryland Mechanics' Lien Statute, Md.Code, (1976, 1996 Repl.Vol.), §§ 9-101 through 9-114 of the Real Property Article (“R.P.”).Īppellant Wolf Organization, Inc., trading as “The Lumber Yard” (“Wolf”), filed a petition in the Circuit Court for Carroll County to establish and enforce a mechanics' lien against property known as 3839 Dakota Road. and Bowie & Jensen, LLC, on the brief), Towson, for appellees. Decided: January 28, 1998Īrgued before HOLLANDER, SALMON and BYRNES, JJ.