Chapter 779

779.485(1)(g) (g) “Special tool builder’s lien” means a lien described in sub. (2) (a) 1.

779.485(2) (2) Special tool builders.

779.485(2)(a) (a) Lien.

779.485(2)(a)1. 1. A special tool builder who does all of the following has a lien on a special tool in the amount that a customer or manufacturer owes the special tool builder for designing, developing, manufacturing, fabricating, assembling, repairing, or modifying the special tool:

779.485(2)(a)1.a. a. Permanently records on the special tool the special tool builder’s name, street address, city, and state, or other traceable identification.

779.485(2)(a)1.b. b. Files a financing statement for the special tool under subch. V of ch. 409.

779.485(2)(a)2. 2. A special tool builder’s lien attaches and is perfected on the date that both of the requirements specified in subd. 1. a. and b. are satisfied.

779.485(2)(a)3. 3. A special tool builder retains a special tool builder’s lien even if the special tool builder does not have physical possession of the special tool for which the lien is claimed.

779.485(2)(a)4. 4. A special tool builder’s lien remains valid until the first of any of the following occurs:

779.485(2)(a)4.a. a. The customer or manufacturer pays the special tool builder the amount for which the special tool builder’s lien is claimed.

779.485(2)(a)4.b. b. The financing statement is terminated.

779.485(2)(b) (b) Priority. An attached and perfected special tool builder’s lien has priority over any other lien that subsequently attaches to the special tool.

779.485(2)(c) (c) Enforcement.

779.485(2)(c)1. 1. A special tool builder may not enforce a special tool builder’s lien unless the builder provides notice in writing to the customer, manufacturer, or both that owes the builder the amount for which the special tool builder’s lien is claimed. The notice shall be delivered personally or by registered mail, return receipt requested, to the last-known address of the customer, manufacturer, or both and shall state that the builder is claiming a lien for the amount that customer, manufacturer, or both owes the special tool builder for designing, developing, manufacturing, fabricating, assembling, repairing, or modifying the special tool and that the builder demands payment for the amount. Except as provided in subd. 2., if the special tool builder is not paid the amount claimed within 90 days after either the customer or, if applicable, the manufacturer receives the notice, whichever is later, the builder has the right to possession of the special tool and the builder may enforce the right by any available judicial procedure or by taking possession of the special tool without judicial process, but only if the taking is done without breach of the peace.

779.485(2)(c)2. 2. If the postal service returns any notice required under subd. 1. as undeliverable, the special tool builder may enforce the right to possession under subd. 1. no sooner than 90 days after the special tool builder publishes, under ch. 985, a class 1 notice of the intended enforcement of the right to possession in a newspaper of general circulation in the place where the special tool is last known to be located and in the place of the last-known address of any person for which the postal service returns a notice as undeliverable.

779.485(3) (3) Manufacturers.

779.485(3)(a) (a) Transfer of interest.

779.485(3)(a)1. 1. Unless otherwise agreed by a customer and manufacturer in writing, all rights, title, and interest of a customer in a special tool that a manufacturer has used to produce parts ordered by the customer or that the customer has caused a manufacturer to use are transferred to the manufacturer for the purpose of destroying the special tool, if all of the following are satisfied:

779.485(3)(a)1.a. a. The special tool has been in the possession of the manufacturer during the one-year period beginning after the manufacturer’s last use of the special tool.

779.485(3)(a)1.b. b. The customer has not claimed possession of the special tool before the expiration of the one-year period specified in subd. 1. a.

779.485(3)(a)1.c. c. After the expiration of the one-year period specified in subd. 1. a., the manufacturer provides written notice by registered mail, return receipt requested, to an address designated in writing by the customer or, if the customer has made no such designation, to the customer’s last-known address, that indicates that the manufacturer intends to terminate the customer’s rights, title, and interest in the special tool and transfer those rights, title, and interest to the manufacturer as provided in this paragraph.

779.485(3)(a)1.d. d. The customer has not, within 120 days after the date that the manufacturer receives the return receipt of notice specified in subd. 1. c. or within 120 days after the manufacturer provides notice if no return receipt is received within that period, claimed possession of the special tool or agreed to other arrangements with the manufacturer for storage of the special tool.

779.485(3)(a)2. 2. The one-year period specified in subd. 1. a. applies retroactively to special tools last used before April 29, 2006.

779.485(3)(a)3. 3. This paragraph does not apply to a special tool that is titled to, and in the possession of, a manufacturer. This paragraph may not be construed to grant a customer any right, title, or interest in a special tool.

779.485(3)(b) (b) Lien. A manufacturer has a lien on any special tool in the manufacturers’ possession belonging to a customer for the amount due the manufacturer from the customer for work performed with the special tool or for making or improving the special tool. A manufacturer may retain possession of the special tool until the amount due is paid.

779.485(3)(c) (c) Enforcement.

779.485(3)(c)1. 1. A manufacturer may not enforce a manufacturers’ lien unless the manufacturer provides notice in writing to the customer, delivered personally or by registered mail to the last-known address of the customer, that states that the manufacturer is claiming a lien for the amount due described in par. (b). Except as provided in subd. 2., if the manufacturer is not paid the amount due within 90 days after the customer receives the notice, and if the manufacturer is still in possession of the special tool, the manufacturer may sell the special tool at public auction under par. (d).

779.485(3)(c)2. 2. If the postal service returns a notice under subd. 1. as undeliverable and if the manufacturer is still in possession of the special tool, the manufacturer may sell the special tool at public auction under par. (d) no sooner than 90 days after the special tool builder publishes, under ch. 985, a class 1 notice of the sale in a newspaper of general circulation in the place of the last-known address of the customer.

779.485(3)(d) (d) Public auction.

779.485(3)(d)1. 1. A manufacturer may not sell a special tool at public auction unless the manufacturer has provided, by registered mail, return receipt requested, the customer and any other person, including a special tool builder, who has perfected by filing a security interest in the special tool, a notice that includes all of the following:

779.485(3)(d)1.a. a. A statement that the manufacturer intends to sell the special tool no sooner than 60 days after receipt of the notice.

779.485(3)(d)1.b. b. A description of the special tool.

779.485(3)(d)1.c. c. The time and place of the public auction.

779.485(3)(d)1.d. d. An itemized statement of the amount for which the manufacturer’s lien is claimed.

779.485(3)(d)1.e. e. A statement that any product produced by the manufacturer with the special tool complies with the quality and quantity ordered by the customer.

779.485(3)(d)2. 2. Except as provided in subd. 3., a manufacturer may sell a special tool at public auction no sooner than 60 days after the customer’s or other person’s receipt of the notice specified in subd. 1., whichever is later, except that, if the postal service returns any of the notices as undeliverable, the manufacturer may sell the special tool no sooner than 60 days after the manufacturer publishes, under ch. 985, a class 1 notice of the intended sale, that includes the information specified in subd. 1., in a newspaper of general circulation in the place where the manufacturer is holding the special tool for sale, in the place of the customer’s last-known address, and in the place of the other person’s last-known address.

779.485(3)(d)3. 3. If a customer disagrees with the statement specified in subd. 1. e. that is included in a notice, the customer may notify the manufacturer of the disagreement in writing by registered mail, return receipt requested. If a manufacturer receives a notification under this subdivision before the date of the public auction, the manufacturer may not sell the special tool at public auction until after the disagreement is resolved.

779.485(3)(e) (e) Proceeds. The proceeds of a sale of a special tool under par. (d) shall, if applicable, first be paid to a prior lienholder who has perfected a lien in an amount sufficient to extinguish that lien. Any excess proceeds shall next be paid to the manufacturer in an amount sufficient to extinguish the manufacturer’s lien. Any remainder shall be paid to the customer.

779.485 History History: 2005 a. 336.

subch. V of ch. 779 SUBCHAPTER V

BREEDING ANIMAL, THRESHING LIENS, ETC.

779.49 779.49 Lien of owner of breeding animal or methods.

779.49(1) (1) 

779.49(1)(a) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), every owner of a stallion, jackass or bull, or semen from a stallion, jackass or bull, kept and used for breeding purposes shall have a lien upon any dam served and upon any offspring gotten by the animal, or by means of artificial insemination for the sum stipulated to be paid for the service of the dam. The owner of the stallion, jackass or bull, used to service, or semen used to artificially inseminate, the dam may seize and take possession of the dam and offspring or either without process at any time before the offspring is one year old, in case the price agreed upon for the service remains unpaid, and sell the offspring at public auction. The sale of the offspring shall be upon 10 days’ notice, to be posted in at least 3 public places in the town where the service was rendered. The proceeds of the sale shall be applied to the payment of the amount due for the service and the expenses of the seizure and sale. The residue, if any, shall be returned to the party entitled to it.

779.49(1)(b) (b) No lien given under this subsection shall be effective for any purpose against an innocent purchaser or mortgagee of the offspring or the dam of the offspring for value unless the owner having a claim for the service records with the register of deeds of the county where the owner of the dam served resides a statement showing that the service has been rendered and the amount due for the service.

779.49(2) (2) Any person who sells, disposes of or gives a mortgage upon any dam which to the person’s knowledge has been served by a stallion, jackass or bull, or artificially inseminated with semen owned by another, the fee for which has not been paid, and who has not given written information to the purchaser or mortgagee of the fact of the service or artificial insemination, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $10 or imprisoned for not more than 60 days.

779.49 History History: 1979 c. 32 s. 57; 1979 c. 176; Stats. 1979 s. 779.49; 1993 a. 301; 1997 a. 254.

779.50 779.50 Lien for threshing, husking, baling; enforcement.

779.50(1) (1) 

779.50(1)(a) (a) Every person who threshes grain, cuts, shreds, husks or shells corn or bales hay or straw by machine for another shall have a lien upon the grain, corn, hay or straw for the value of the services to the extent that the person contracting for the services has an interest in the grain, corn, hay or straw, from the date of the commencement of the service.

779.50(1)(b) (b) The lien given under par. (a) may be foreclosed at any time within 6 months from the date of the last charge for the services described in par. (a) as long as the charges remain unpaid. For the purpose of foreclosing the lien, the lien claimant may take possession of so much of the grain, corn, hay or straw as shall be necessary to pay for the services and the expenses of enforcing the lien, for the services, and sell the grain, corn, hay or straw at public auction. The auction shall be held upon notice of not less than 10 nor more than 15 days from the date of the seizure of the grain, corn, hay or straw under this paragraph.

779.50(2) (2) Notice of such sale shall be given personally and by posting in at least three public places in the town where the debtor resides, and also in the town where such sale is to be made; and if such debtor is a nonresident of the state, in the town where such grain, corn, hay or straw, or some part thereof, was threshed, cut, husked, shelled or baled, and apply the proceeds of such sale to the payment of such service, together with the expenses of such seizure and sale, returning the residue to the party entitled thereto.

779.50(3) (3) The lien created by this section shall be preferred to all other liens and encumbrances, but does not apply to an innocent purchaser for value unless such lien is recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county where the services were performed within 15 days from the date of the completion of such service.

779.50(4) (4) The costs and expenses of seizure and sale under this section shall be as follows:

779.50(4)(a) (a) For seizing grain, corn, hay or straw, 50 cents.

779.50(4)(b) (b) For posting each notice, 12 cents.

779.50(4)(c) (c) For serving each notice of sale, 25 cents.

779.50(4)(d) (d) For every copy of a notice of sale delivered on request, 12 cents.

779.50(4)(e) (e) For each mile actually traveled, going and returning to serve any notice; or to give or post notices of sale, 10 cents.

779.50(4)(f) (f) For conducting the sale of the grain, corn, hay or straw, 50 cents.

779.50(4)(g) (g) For collecting and paying over all sums upon the sale, 5 percent of the sums collected or $10, whichever is less.

779.50(4)(h) (h) All necessary expenses incurred in taking possession of and preserving any grain, corn, hay or straw.

779.50 History History: 1979 c. 32 s. 57; 1979 c. 176; Stats. 1979 s. 779.50; 1993 a. 301; 1997 a. 254; 2007 a. 96.

779.50 Annotation Sub. (1) (b) does not state that an agricultural lien is extinguished or terminated if the lienholder chooses not to foreclose within six months of the date of the last charge. This section provides for a permissive foreclosure process. CHS Capital, LLC v. Hellenbrand Farms, LLC, 420 F. Supp. 3d 872 (2019).

subch. VII of ch. 779 SUBCHAPTER VII

MAINTENANCE LIENS

779.70 779.70 Maintenance liens.

779.70(1) (1) Any corporation organized under the laws of this state as a nonprofit, membership corporation for the purpose of maintaining, improving, policing or preserving properties in which its members shall have common rights of usage and enjoyment, including, without limitation because of specific enumeration, private (not public) parks, plazas, roads, paths, highways, piers, docks, playgrounds, tennis courts, beaches, water pumping plant and connecting pipes or sewer plant and connecting pipes, shall have the power to prepare and annually submit to its membership a budget of the expenditures which it proposes to make for the ensuing year. Such budget shall include the expenses of maintaining the necessary organization of the corporation including salaries to officers, fees paid for auditing the books of the corporation and for necessary legal services and counsel fees to the governing board thereof.

779.70(2) (2) 

779.70(2)(a) (a) Upon the adoption and approval of the annual budget by a majority of the members entitled to vote as established by the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the corporation and by rules validly adopted by resolution of the governing board of the corporation, at a regular meeting or adjournment thereof, or upon the approval of a special assessment under par. (e), the governing board of the corporation may levy an assessment not in excess of 8 mills on each dollar of assessed valuation, to be known as a maintenance assessment, against all of the lots, the ownership of which entitles the owner thereof to the use and enjoyment of the properties controlled by the corporation, but the limitation of 8 mills on each dollar of assessed valuation shall not apply in any case in which the property owners or their predecessors in title have, by written contract, or by the terms of their deeds of conveyance, assumed and agreed to pay the costs of maintaining those properties in which the owners have common rights of usage and enjoyment.

779.70(2)(b) (b) The assessment levied under this section shall be equal in amount against each parcel of contiguous lots under common ownership and with one dwelling house in a parcel, with the assessment prorated among the lots in the parcel, or equal in rate against the assessed value of each lot or equal in amount against each lot, at the option of the governing board as it directs each year, except as provided in pars. (c) and (d), and shall be levied at the same time once in each year upon all lots. Assessed value shall include the value of the land comprising the lot and the improvements thereon.

779.70(2)(c) (c) The governing board shall apportion the cost of operating water or sewer plants and facilities thereof and separate such costs from the other expenses of the budget and shall include the expenses of water and sewer plant maintenance only in the levy against those lots which may be improved with a dwelling house on the date when the levy is ordered, and no portion of such cost shall be assessed against the vacant lots or the owners thereof. In computing the cost of operating water or sewer line facilities thereof, reasonable reserves may be set up for depreciation of facilities.

779.70(2)(d) (d) If property owners or their predecessors in title have, by written contract, or by the terms of their deeds of conveyance, agreed to pay unequal amounts, dues or assessments to maintain those properties in which the owners have common rights of usage and enjoyment and if those amounts, dues or assessments which are not based on assessed valuations do not vary more than $25 between lots, then the governing board may apportion the costs of maintaining those properties in proportion to the amounts, dues or assessments specified in the agreement.

779.70(2)(e) (e) The governing board of a corporation may call a special meeting upon at least 5 days’ written notice for the purpose of making a special assessment. The nature of the proposed special assessment shall be included in the notice. A majority of members entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum for a special meeting, and a majority of members entitled to vote who are present at the special meeting shall determine a question.

779.70(3) (3) The governing board of a corporation described in sub. (1) shall declare the assessments levied under sub. (2) due and payable at any time after 30 days from the date of the levy. The corporation’s secretary or other officer shall notify the owner of every lot so assessed of the action taken by the board, the amount of the assessment of each lot owned by such owner and the date on which the assessment becomes due and payable. The secretary shall mail the notice by U.S. mail, postage prepaid, to the owner at the owner’s last-known post-office address.

779.70(4) (4) In the event that an assessment levied under sub. (2) against any lot remains unpaid for a period of 60 days from the date of the levy, the governing board of the levying corporation may, in its discretion, file a claim for a maintenance lien against the lot. All of the following apply to a claim for lien under this subsection:

779.70(4)(a) (a) The claim may be filed at any time within 6 months from the date of the levy.

779.70(4)(b) (b) The claim shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the lands affected by the levy lie.

779.70(4)(c) (c) The claim shall contain a reference to the resolution authorizing the levy and the date of the resolution, the name of the claimant or assignee, the name of the person against whom the assessment is levied, a description of the property affected by the levy and a statement of the amount claimed.

779.70(4)(d) (d) The claim shall be signed by the claimant or the claimant’s attorney, need not be verified, and may be amended, in case an action is brought, by court order, as pleadings may be.

779.70(5) (5) The clerk of circuit court shall enter each claim for a maintenance lien in the judgment and lien docket immediately after the claim is filed in the same manner that other liens are entered. The date of levy of assessment will appear on the judgment and lien docket instead of the last date of performance of labor or furnishing materials.

779.70(6) (6) When the corporation, described in sub. (1) has so filed its claim for lien upon a lot it may foreclose the same by action in the circuit court having jurisdiction thereof, and ss. 779.09, 779.10, 779.11, 779.12 and 779.13 shall apply to proceedings undertaken for the enforcement and collection of maintenance liens as described in this subsection.

779.70 History History: 1977 c. 316, 449; 1979 c. 32 ss. 57, 92 (9); 1979 c. 176; Stats. 1979 s. 779.70; 1989 a. 31; 1995 a. 224; 1997 a. 254.

subch. VIII of ch. 779 SUBCHAPTER VIII

DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED ARTICLES

779.71 779.71 Disposition of articles left for laundering, dry cleaning, repair, storage.

779.71(1) (1) Any garment, clothing, wearing apparel or household goods remaining in the possession of a person, firm, partnership or corporation, on which laundering, cleaning, pressing, glazing or dyeing has been done or upon which alteration or repairs have been made, or on which materials or supplies have been used or furnished, for a period of 6 months or more, may be sold to pay the reasonable or agreed charges and the cost of notifying the owner, after giving notice of said sale as specified in sub. (3) to such owner. Property that is to be placed in storage after any of the services or labors mentioned herein are performed shall not be affected by the provisions of this subsection.

779.71(2) (2) All garments, clothing, wearing apparel or household goods placed in storage, or on which any of the services or labors mentioned in sub. (1) have been performed and then placed in storage by agreement and remaining in the possession of a person without the reasonable or agreed charges having been paid for a period of more than 18 months, may be sold to pay said charges after giving notice of said sale as specified in sub. (3) to such owner, provided that where property was delivered to be cleaned, pressed, glazed or dyed, and left for storage in addition to having such work done, it shall not be so sold unless at the time of delivery the owner was given a receipt for such property containing a statement that the property will be sold when such 18 months have elapsed unless called for within such 18 months’ period. Persons operating as warehouses or warehouse keepers shall not be affected by this subsection.

779.71(3) (3) The mailing of a registered letter, with a return address marked thereon, addressed to the owner at their address given at the time of the delivery of the article or articles to a person, firm, partnership or corporation rendering any of the services or labors as set out in this section, stating the time and place of sale, shall constitute notice. Said notice shall be posted or mailed at least 30 days before the date of sale. The costs of posting or mailing said letter shall be added to the charges.