News from the Senate Majority
Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

Senate Passes Bill to Curtail Abuse of Common Law Liens

Makes Filing a Non-Consensual Common Law Lien Illegal

For Immediate Release: February 24, 1998 Contact: Senator Tim Kelly, 465-3822.

Juneau – The Senate unanimously passed legislation to stop the Harassment filings of nonconsensual common law liens as a form of revenge against public officials and others in Alaska.

Senate Bill 195, requested by the Alaska Court System and sponsored by Senator Tim Kelly (R-Anchorage), would make it a misdemeanor offense to record such a lien without the specific authorization of a court and would also provide an expeditious way to invalidate such filings when they occur.

"We are now seeing nuisance lien filings in Alaska as a form of retribution. The majority of them are being filed against public officials simply doing their jobs," said Kelly.

Last year, for example, several employees and elected officials of the Municipality of Anchorage had unwarranted liens filed against their properties. While these nonconsensual filings have not held up in court, the actions do result in considerable additional public expense and unnecessary workload for court system and other staff.

# # #