Replevin for One Yoke Of Oxen, One Horse and Wagon and Buffalo Skin

I ran across this 1841 Maine case about replevin.

I'm trying to figure out a pretty easy question about possession. A person who does repairs on, say, a car or a boat or a plane, has a lien on the boat or plane or car to the extent of the unpaid bill. They can keep the vessel or vehicle until the bill is paid; they don't have to give it back. To the extent they don't give it back, their right to payment comes ahead of anyone else, even a bank who gave the money to the owner to buy the boat or plane or car. Even if the bank did everything right -- filed all its papers, etc. As long as the mechanic has possession of the chattel, he gets to get paid first.

Okay, so what if the owner comes and, without paying, takes the boat out for a little spin, and then parks it back at the marina (or garage or airport, you get the idea). Is the mechanic still first in line to get paid?

The search for the answer takes me to this old case and has me down memory lane. My venerable Torts professor loved to give us these ancient cases about yokes of oxen, written in obscure and archaic language. I used to find it so backwards, and would resent reading these difficult cases about livestock using words and terms that are no longer used. But the professor was fantastically smart, and chose every case very carefully. He will forever have my utmost respect and admiration. He died of cancer halfway through my 2L year.

That's why I'm smiling, sadly, as I read.

Comments

[Richard Ames]

I guess what your problem is asking is whether a possessory lien holder has to have continuous possession of the personal property for his or her lien to be valid? My understanding is that the lien arises because (and at the time) the work was performed. That is, possession, remarkably, is only incidental to a possessory lien, not a requirement. May be different in Maine, but here in PA that's pretty much the story.

In addition, here in PA, if the owner/debtor takes the boat out for a little spin, he does NOT take it back to the creditor. He hides it.