Meyers v. Neeley & Ensor Auto Co.

Urner, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented on this appeal is whether ihe appellee’s common law lien for repairs to an automobile is available as against the appellant’s title reserved under a conditional sale contract, which had been duly recorded. There is an agreement as to the facts. The car which the appellee repaired had been sold by the appellant on October 30th, 1920, for $1,750, to a purchaser who made a partial payment in cash and gave Ms promissory notes for the balance, amounting to $1,658.29.

Subsequent payments aggre ¹⁰⁸ gated $283, and the amount still due the appellant for the automobile is $1,425.29, with interest. The purchaser was given possession of the car at the time of the sale and used it until January 1st, 1921, when he brought it to the appellee’s garage for repairs. This was done without the appellant’s knowledge. There is no question as to the necessity for the repairs or as to the reasonableness of the charges therefor, which amount to $90.86.

The contract of sale, upon which the appellant relies, was recorded eleven days after its execution. It provided that title to the car should remain in the vendor until the purchase price was fully paid, and that upon default in the payment of any of the specified installments, the vendor should have the right to take the car into his possession. The registration of title in the office of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles was made in the name of the purchaser of the automobile, with a reference to the appellant’s interest under the conditional sale contract. After the repairs to the car had been completed, the vendee was notified of that fact but failed to call for it or to pay the bill for the repairs, and the appellant, several months later, in consequence of the refusal of the appellee to surrender the car except on payment of its claim, brought the pending action of replevin.

The verdict and judgment were for the appellee. The only exception was to a ruling that the right of possession incident to the lien for the repairs is superior to that asserted by the appellant under the terms of the contract of sale. It is clear that the existence of a valid lien at common law in favor of the appellee, for the value of the labor and material used in the repair of the automobile, could not be denied by the person at whose instance the service was rendered, or be disputed on behalf of any interest for which he was then authorized to act. Winton Co. v. Meister, 133 Md. 318 .

While the appellee was chargeable with constructive notice of the title reserved to the appellant by a contract of conditional sale recorded under the provisions of the Act of ¹⁰⁹ 1916, chapter 355 (Code, art. 21, sec. 53A), yet it was apparent that the purchaser was permitted to have the exclusive posession and use of the car, and the repairs were essential to its operation. The reservation of title was intended to be consistent with a right of user which could not be effectually exercised unless the automobile were kept in proper condition. The occasional need of repairs was an inevitable incident of the use for which the car was purchased. It may be fairly implied, therefore, that the delivery of possession to the appellee involved also' an authorization to proceed, in case of reasonable necessity, to have the car repaired.

The recognition of such an agency by implication is supported by considerations of justice to the appellee, whose work and materials were bestowed upon the car, and it does no injury to the interests of the appellant, who is subjected to no personal liability, but is simply required to recognize a lawful lien for repairs which conserve the value of his own property. In Hammond v. Danielson, 126 Mass. 294 , a mortgaged hack used for hire was repaired at the instance of the mortgagor, and it was held that the person making the repairs had a lien therefor as against the mortgagee. The court said: “It was the manifest intention of the parties that the hack should continue to he driven for hire and should be kept in a proper state of repair for that purpose, not merely for the benefit of the mortgagee', but for that of the mortgagor also, by preserving the value of the security and affording a means of earning the wherewithal to pay off the mortgage debt.”