Case v. Bogosian (1998)
Decided: March 27, 1998 · Docket: 97-58-Appeal · Per curiam. The complete reported pages 905–907 were independently retrieved from the Caselaw Access Project, an unofficial reproduction of the primary opinion.
Source note (2026-10-18):
- Links on this page to
https://static.case.law/a2d/708/cases/0905-01.jsonare an (unofficial Caselaw Access Project copy, retrieved before 2026-10-18; host disallows automated access); no official or otherwise permitted full-text copy was located on 2026-10-18.
Case installed an engine under an oral agreement, retained the vehicle for repair and storage charges, and later placed it with Carpenter without the owner’s consent. The trial court found no valid repair/storage lien and conversion liability. On appeal Case conceded the lack of owner-signed repair authorization required by § 34-32-1, but asserted that chapter 34-35 supplied a storage lien.
The Supreme Court affirmed. Chapter 34-35 supplies enforcement of an existing lien; it creates no new statutory lien. A common-law artisan lien rests on adding value through labor, materials or skill and retaining possession; ordinary automobile storage did not supply the missing lien. Carpenter’s wholly derivative storage claim also failed. The conversion consequence remained, while the parties had agreed on damages. The court did not decide every alternative contract claim or validate a completed foreclosure sale. All these holdings and limits come from the full opinion.
The court expressly adopted in-re-dipasquale-ri-m12-1989’s enforcement-versus- creation distinction. Current § 34-35-1 and § 34-32-1 retain the relevant structure. Later express towing, warehouse or dry-dock statutes require their own conditions; this holding does not erase those statutory grants. Bounded treatment searches found no verified overruling; full holding verification is not a comprehensive still-good-law certificate.
Applies in rhode-island · Related: towing-storage-and-mechanics-lien-sales.
Legal information, not legal advice.