VII. DEBTOR -CREDITOR LAW

A. ABSCONDING DEBTOR.

 

1. Absconding to state. If any debtor shall fraudulently abscond from any other state, territory or district to this state without the knowledge of his, her or their creditor, the creditor may commence suit against the absconding debtor within the times in this act or

any other acts of limitations, in force on December 14, 1844, prescribed for limiting the action, after the creditor may become apprised of the residence of the absconding debtor. A.C.A. § 16-56-121 (1987).

 

2. Debtor absconding from county. If any person, by leaving the county, absconding, or concealing himself, or any other improper act of his own, prevents the commencement of any action specified in this act, the action may be commenced within the times respectively limited after the commencement of the action shall have ceased to be so prevented. A.C.A. § 16-56-120 (1987).

 

B. ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL. Any person in the armed forces of the United States government during the existence of a state of war between the United States and any other nation may, at any time within one (1) year after the end of the state of war and six (6) months thereafter, maintain a suit for the collection of any debt or the recovery of any real or personal property to which the person may be entitled if the statute of limitations had not run against the action prior to the person's entry into the armed forces. A.C.A. § 16-56-118(b) (1987).

 

C. ASSIGNMENTS: PROCEEDINGS TO CONTEST. All proceedings to contest the validity of an assignment for the benefit of creditors shall be instituted within six (6) months from the date of the assignment by filing a complaint in the chancery court stating the grounds upon which the assignment is contested. A.C.A. § 16-117-402(a) (1987).

 

D. ATTORNEYS' FEES.

1. Claims for attorneys' fees. Claims for attorneys' fees and related non-taxable expenses shall be made by motion filed and served no later than fourteen (14) days after entry of judgment. Ark. R. Civ. P. 54(e) (2002).

 

2. Claims for attorneys' fees by the State of Arkansas. The State of Arkansas, a county, or both, may file suit to recover money expended in the representation of an indigent if a court determines him not to have been indigent at the time expenditures were made. Any such suit shall be brought within three (3) years after the date of filing of a certificate of indigency. A.C.A. § 16-87-213 (1987 & Supp. 2001).

 

E. ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS AND DECREES. Actions on all judgments and decrees shall be commenced within ten (10) years after cause of action shall accrue, and not

afterward. A.C.A. § 16-56-114 (1987). See Dodson v. Taylor, 346 Ark. 443, 57 S.W.3d 710 (2001), holding that. a foreign workers' compensation judgment filed in Arkansas constituted the enforcement of a judgment timely filed within ten years from the accrual of the cause of action under A.C.A. § 16-56-114 and did not constitute a new workers' compensation claim which must be filed within two years of the accrual of the cause of action under A.C.A. § 11-9­702(a)(1) (Repl. 2002).

 

F. LIENS.

 

1. Artisans. If the lienholder has voluntarily parted with any property upon which he has a lien under this subchapter, a just and true itemized account for the demand due, after allowing all credits, containing a description of the property to be charged with the lien and verified by the affidavit of the lienholder must be filed with the circuit court clerk within one hundred twenty (120) days after the work or labor is done or performed, or materials furnished. Liens accruing under this subchapter may be enforced at any time within eighteen (18) months after the accounts are filed, by suits in the chancery courts of the county, and the municipal courts of the counties having such courts, or by justices of the peace of the township in which the action would accrue in counties having no municipal courts. A.C.A. § 18-45-206(a), 207(a) (1987).

 

2. Child support. Any court order or decree that provides for payment of child support through the court registry shall become a lien upon the non-custodial parent's real property not otherwise exempt by the Arkansas Constitution, owned by the noncustodial parent or which the noncustodial parent may acquire before the lien expires. The lien shall continue in full force for three (3) years from the date when all children covered reach majority or are emancipated or die without necessity or limitation of revivor. A.C.A. § 9-14-230(a)(1), (f) (Repl. 2002).

 

3. Cleaners, launderers, dyers, tailors, hat renovators, and shoe repairmen. If the lienholder has voluntarily parted with possession of any property upon which he has a lien under the provisions of this subchapter, he may still avail himself of the lien within ninety (90) days after the work or labor is done or performed, or materials furnished by filing with the circuit court clerk of the county in which the debtor resides a just and true itemized account for the amount due, after allowing all credits, containing a description of the property to be charged with the lien and verified by the affidavit of the lienholder. Liens as provided by this section may be enforced at any time within four (4) months after the accounts are filed, by suits in the chancery courts of the county. A.C.A. §§ 18-45-401, 405(a), (c) (1987).

 

4. Cotton ginner's lien. The owner of a cotton gin must enforce his lien for services performed within six (6) months after the cotton is ginned. A.C.A. §§ 18-48-505 and 18­48-506(b) (1987).

 

5. Crop lien. Every landlord shall have a lien upon the crop grown on the leased premises in any year for rent that shall accrue for such year, and the lien shall continue for six (6) months after the rent shall become due and payable. A.C.A. § 18-41-101 (1987).

 

6. Drain pipe lien. Every manufacturer or contractor who shall furnish to any land owner any soil or drain pipe or tile for drainage of his land, or shall put in soil or drain tile for any land, shall have a lien for each tract of forty acres or less of the real estate upon which the tile is placed for the payment of the lien. The lien shall extend for a period of two (2) years. A.C.A. § 18-44-104 (1987).

 

7. Electrical repairmen. If the lienholder has voluntarily parted with possession of any property upon which he has a lien under the provisions of this subchapter, he may still avail himself of the lien within ninety (90) days after the work is performed or materials are furnished by filing with the circuit clerk of the county in which the property is located an itemized account of the lien. The lien may be enforced at any time within ninety (90) days after the filing of such lien by filing suit in the chancery court in the county in which the property is located. A.C.A. §§ 18-45-301, 305(a), (c) (1987).

 

8. Farm product processor's lien. An action to enforce a lien under this Act must be commenced within eight (8) months after such farm product, products, or by-products are dried, cleaned, milled or processed. A.C.A. § 18-48-504(b) (1987).

 

9. Hospital lien. If at the expiration of one hundred eighty (180) days immediately following the day on which the most recent notice, amendatory notice, or supplementary notice of a claim of lien was filed in the office of the circuit court clerk, and if, in any event, immediately on the expiration of the period during which the practitioner, nurse, hospital, or ambulance service provider can enter action to enforce his claim against the patient for compensation for service rendered, the lien remains unsatisfied and unreleased, and no suit by the practitioner, nurse, or hospital by which notice of such lien was filed, to enforce that lien, is pending in any court the lien shall be void and of no effect. If at the expiration of the one hundred eighty (180) day period stated above, an action is pending by the practitioner, nurse, hospital, or ambulance service provider to enforce a claim of lien filed by him, the lien shall continue in full force and effect during the pendency of that suit, unless released by the practitioner, nurse, hospital, or ambulance service provider by whom the claim was filed. A.C.A. § 18-46-106(a), (e) (1987 & Supp. 2001).

 

10. Judgment lien.

a. Civil cases - judgment as lien on land. The liens authorized by this section shall continue in force for ten (10) years, from the date of the judgment and may be revived. A.C.A. § 16-65-117(d) (1987 & Supp. 2001).

 

b. Criminal cases. A notice of lis pendens must be filed within six (6) months after rendition of judgment for fine and costs, and an action to enforce the lien must be instituted within two (2) years after the date of the filing of the notice. A.C.A. § 16-92­101(a) (1987).

11. Laborers. Any action to recover for labor must be commenced within eight (8) months after the work is done. A.C.A. § 18-43-105 (1987).

 

12. Livestock.

 

a. Enforcement of security interest in livestock. No action to enforce a security interest in livestock shall be brought against a livestock auction market or selling agent who, in the ordinary course of business, sells the livestock for another person in a public auction, more than eighteen (18) months after the date of the sale. No action to enforce a security interest in livestock against a buyer in the ordinary course of business shall be brought more than eighteen (18) months after the livestock is sold to the buyer. A.C.A. § 16-56-107 (1987).

 

b. Livestock care lien. Proceedings to enforce a lien created for the care and feeding of livestock shall be brought at any time after ten (10) days from the date when such payment became delinquent or when the contract was breached, but at no time after one (1) year from the date of delinquency or of breach of contract. A.C.A. § 18-48-209 (1987).

 

c. Livestock stud service lien. At any time within twenty (20) months after the time of service, the owner of a male animal may file a verified written statement with any justice of the peace in the county, setting forth the amount of claim, the cause of action and a description of the farm animal and/or her offspring upon which there is a lien. A.C.A. § 18-48-303 (1987).

 

13. Mechanics and materialmen. A mechanic or materialman who wishes to avail himself or herself of a lien shall file a just and true account of the demand due within 120 days after material is furnished or labor is finished. A.C.A. § 18-44-117(a) (1987). An action to enforce the lien shall be commenced within fifteen (15) months after filing the lien and prosecuted without unnecessary delay to final judgment. A.C.A. § 18-44-119 (1987).

 

14. Miners or quarry workers. Any person working in any Arkansas mine or in any Arkansas stone or marble quarry shall have a lien for the amount due for his work on the output of the mine or quarry and on the machinery, tools, and implements used in the mine or quarry. Any action to recover must be commenced within eight (8) months after the work is done. A.C.A. § 18-43-103 (1987).

 

15. Occupant. If the value of improvements peaceably made under color of title by an occupant of land believing himself to be the owner, plus all property taxes paid by such occupant, exceeds the amount of damages plus mesne profits sustained by the true owner, no writ of possession shall issue in favor of the true owner until said excess amount is paid to the occupant; said excess amount shall be a lien on the lands, which may be enforced by equitable proceedings commenced within three (3) years after the date of the judgment. A.C.A. § 18-60-213 (1987).

 

16. Tax deed holder. If the holder of a tax deed peaceably improves such land by having the boundaries surveyed and corners established by the county surveyor, and if the forfeiture of