Louie's Floor Covering, Inc. v. DePhillips Interests, Ltd.

HARRIS, Justice.

This action to foreclose a mechanic’s lien presents again the question of who must stand the loss occasioned by a failed building contractor. Is it the purchaser of a house who paid the full purchase price to the builder,j or is it the furnisher of material and labor who was not paid by the builder? In Home Carpet, Inc. v. Bob Antrim Homes, 210 N.W.2d 652 (Iowa 1973), we placed the loss on the purchaser. Under the facts here, and especially under Iowa’s amended mechanic’s lien statute, the trial court assigned the loss to the business which furnished the goods and services…