The facts in this case are not in dispute. On March 7, 2002, Affordable Housing Development Corporation of DeKalb entered into a contract with Vakilzadeh Enterprises, d/b/a Allstates Construction Company “Allstates”. Affordable Housing is a non-profit subsidiary corporation created by the Housing Authority of the County of DeKalb. Under the contract, Allstates agreed to provide all labor, materials and equipment for development work of the Sugar Mill Creek Subdivision the “Project”, located in DeKalb County. The Project is located on 53 acres of land owned by the Housing Authority and is intended to be an affordable housing development for low-to-moderate-income families. In November 2003, as provided for in the contract, Affordable Housing assigned its contract with Allstates to the Housing Authority. On January 9, 2004, the Housing Authority terminated the contract, effective January 19, 2004, purportedly due to Allstates’ numerous defaults under the contract. On January 22, 2004, Allstates filed a complaint for breach of contract against the Housing Authority, claiming the Housing Authority had failed to pay money due under the contract. Allstates also filed a materialman’s lien on the property. The Housing Authority notified Allstates that the property was public and suggested that Allstates did not have lien rights on the property. Because a construction loan closing was scheduled to take place on May 20, 2004, and the lien would likely prevent the closing from taking place, the Housing Authority filed a Verified Petition to Void Lien of Record on May 13, 2004.
The trial court granted the Housing Authority’s request for an emergency hearing, and a hearing was held on May 19, 2004. Following the hearing, the trial court granted the Housing Authority’s petition to remove the lien from the property, finding that nothing in Georgia law authorizes the placing of a lien against public property and that the property at issue is public property inasmuch as it is owned by the DeKalb Housing Authority, a public institution. Allstates appeals, alleging the trial court erred in finding that its lien was not authorized by Georgia law and in voiding the lien. Notwithstanding Allstates’ purported failure to file a timely or verified responsive brief in the trial court, we have considered this case on the merits, and we find no error.
