PROPERTY CODE
CHAPTER 58. FARM, FACTORY, AND STORE WORKER'S LIENS
§ 58.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Employer" means a person with whom a worker
contracts, directly or through an agent, receiver, or trustee of
the person, for the performance of labor or a service by the worker.
The contract may be oral or in writing.
(2) "Worker" means a clerk, accountant, bookkeeper,
waiter, waitress, cook, maid, porter, servant, employee, artisan,
craftsman, factory operator, mill operator, mechanic, quarry
worker, common laborer, or farmhand.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3571, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.002. LIEN. (a) A worker has a lien as provided by
this chapter if, under the contract with the employer, the worker:
(1) labors or performs a service in an office, store,
hotel, rooming house or boardinghouse, restaurant, shop, factory,
mine, quarry, or mill or on a farm; or
(2) performs a service:
(A) in cutting, preparing, hauling, or
transporting logs or timber to a place of disposition;
(B) on a means of transportation of logs or
timber; or
(C) in constructing or maintaining a tram or
railroad constructed or used for transporting logs or timber to
their owner or a point of disposition.
(b) The amount of the lien is the amount owed under the
contract.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3572, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.003. PROPERTY SUBJECT TO LIEN. Each thing of value
owned by or in the possession or control of the employer or the
employer's agent, receiver, or trustee is subject to the lien if:
(1) created in whole or part by the lien claimant's
work;
(2) used by or useful to the lien claimant in the
performance of the work; or
(3) necessarily connected with the performance of the
work.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3572, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.004. SECURING LIEN. (a) Not later than the 30th
day after the day that the indebtedness accrues, a worker who has
not received payment for work performed and who wishes to claim the
lien must:
(1) serve a copy of an account of the services, stating
the amount due, on the employer or the employer's agent, receiver,
or trustee; and
(2) file a copy of the account with the county clerk of
the county in which the services were performed.
(b) The party making an account must execute an affidavit
verifying the contents of the account.
(c) Substantial compliance with this section secures the
lien.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3572, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.005. PRIORITY. (a) A lien under this chapter is a
first lien, except that a farmhand's lien is subordinate to a
landlord's lien provided by law.
(b) Liens under this chapter take priority in the order that
the accounts are filed with the county clerk.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3573, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.006. DURATION OF LIEN. The lien ceases to exist
six months after the day that it is secured unless the lien claimant
has sued to foreclose the lien.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3573, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.007. PURCHASE OF PROPERTY TO WHICH LIEN HAS
ATTACHED. (a) A person who purchases from its owner property to
which the lien has attached and who has no actual or constructive
notice of the lien takes the property free from the lien.
(b) An account filed with the county clerk under this
chapter or a suit to foreclose a lien is constructive notice of the
lien's existence.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3573, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.008. ASSIGNMENT OF LIEN. The lien may be assigned.
An assignee receives the rights and privileges held by the assignor
under the lien.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3573, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 58.009. PAYMENT OF WAGES. For purposes of this
chapter, wages are due weekly for work performed by the day or week
and monthly for work performed by the month, and an employer shall
pay wages in United States legal tender.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3573, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
