§ 39-a. Liability of lienor where lien has been declared void on\naccount of wilful exaggeration. Where in any action or proceeding to\nenforce a mechanic's lien upon a private or public improvement the court\nshall have declared said lien to be void on account of wilful\nexaggeration the person filing such notice of lien shall be liable in\ndamages to the owner or contractor. The damages which said owner or\ncontractor shall be entitled to recover, shall include the amount of any\npremium for a bond given to obtain the discharge of the lien or the\ninterest on any money deposited for the purpose of discharging the lien,\nreasonable attorney's fees for services in securing the discharge of the\nlien, and an amount equal to the difference by which the amount claimed\nto be due or to become due as stated in the notice of lien exceeded the\namount actually due or to become due thereon.\n
N.Y. Lien Law § 39-a
Liability of lienor where lien has been declared void on account of wilful exaggeration
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Mulberry Development LLC v. Peak Performance NYC, LLC (2017)
Most recently applied in Adria Infrastructure, LLC v. Henick-Lane, Inc. (July 2022)
2014-09-22
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.