Frontier Properties Corp. v. Swanberg

LAVORATO, Justice.

The decisive issue in this appeal is whether our mechanic’s lien law preempts a contractor’s common-law action for work and materials furnished. In this case, the contractor originally sued to foreclose a mechanic’s lien for work and materials it furnished in constructing a home. Later, the contractor added a count for express and implied contract for the work and materials. On the eve of trial, the contractor dropped the foreclosure count and went to trial on the theories of express and implied contract. Following a bench trial, the district court awarded the contractor…