Section 44-14-320. Certain liens established; removal of nonconforming liens

   (a) The following liens are established in this state:

   (1) Liens for taxes in favor of the state, the counties, and the municipal corporations;

   (2) Liens in favor of creditors by judgment and decree;

   (3) Liens in favor of laborers;

   (4) Liens in favor of landlords;

   (5) Liens in favor of mortgagees;

   (6) Liens in favor of landlords furnishing supplies;

   (7) Liens in favor of mechanics on real and personal property;

   (8) Liens in favor of contractors, materialmen, subcontractors, materialmen furnishing material to subcontractors, and laborers furnishing labor to subcontractors, machinists, and manufacturers of machinery. As used in this paragraph, the term "subcontractor" includes, but is not limited to, subcontractors having privity of contract with the prime contractor;

   (9) Liens in favor of certain creditors against steamboats and other watercraft;

   (10) Liens in favor of the proprietors of sawmills and the proprietors of planing mills and other similar establishments;

   (11) Liens in favor of innkeepers, boardinghouse keepers, carriers, livery stable keepers, pawnbrokers, depositories, bailees, factors, acceptors, and attorneys at law;

   (12) Liens in favor of owners of stallions, jacks, bulls, and boars;

   (13) Liens in favor of railroad employees, owners of stock killed, and persons furnishing supplies to railroads;

   (14) Liens in favor of laundrymen;

   (15) Liens in favor of jewelers; and

   (16) Liens in favor of the state for expenditures from the hazardous waste trust fund pursuant to subsection (e) of Code Section 12-8-96. Such liens shall be superior to all other liens except liens for taxes and other prior perfected recorded liens or claims of record.
   (b)(1) All liens provided for in this chapter or specifically established by federal or state statute, county, municipal, or consolidated government ordinance or specifically established in a written declaration or covenant which runs with the land shall be exempt from subsection (c) of this Code section. All other liens shall be defined as nonconforming liens and shall not be eligible for filing and recording.

   (2) Each nonconforming lien shall be a nullity with no force or effect whatsoever, even if said nonconforming lien is filed, recorded, and indexed in the land records of one or more counties in this state.
   (c)(1) Any person, corporation, or other entity against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed or recorded may, without notice to any party, file an ex parte petition for an order to remove a nonconforming lien from the record in the superior court of the county in which said lien is filed or recorded and obtain an order from said superior court directing the clerk of the superior court to record the order and mark the recorded nonconforming lien: "CANCELED OF RECORD PURSUANT TO ORDER DATED     , RECORDED AT DEED BOOK   , PAGE   . THIS      DAY OF             ,     ." The petition shall set forth that:

      (A) The movant is a party against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed;

      (B) The lien in question is a nonconforming lien as defined under this Code section; and

      (C) A certified copy of the nonconforming lien is attached as an exhibit.

The petition must be executed by the movant or movant's attorney. The order may be entered as early as the date of filing of the petition and shall set forth that, upon review of the petition and the certified copy of the recorded instrument attached thereto, it is the order of the court that said lien is a nonconforming lien under this Code section and that the clerk of the court is ordered to record the order and mark the nonconforming lien canceled of record.

   (2) Any official or employee of the government of this state or any branch thereof, any political subdivision of this state, or the government of the United States or any branch thereof against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed or recorded may, without notice to any party and in lieu of the procedure provided by paragraph (1) of this subsection, file an ex parte affidavit of nonconforming lien in the superior court of the county in which said lien is filed or recorded. The affidavit shall set forth that:

      (A) Such person against whose property a nonconforming lien is filed is an official or employee of the government of this state or a branch thereof, a political subdivision of this state, or the government of the United States or a branch thereof;

      (B) The lien in question is a nonconforming lien as defined under this Code section and was filed against the government official or employee based upon the performance or nonperformance of his or her official duties; and

      (C) A certified copy of the nonconforming lien is attached as an exhibit.

The affidavit filed for such government official or employee must be executed by the Attorney General or a deputy or assistant attorney general in the case of an official or employee of the government of this state or a branch thereof, the attorney representing a political subdivision of this state in the case of an official or employee of such political subdivision, or a United States attorney or an assistant United States attorney in the case of an official or employee of the government of the United States or a branch thereof. The lien shall be conclusively presumed to be nonconforming upon the filing of such affidavit, and the clerk of the court shall instanter mark the recorded nonconforming lien: "CANCELED OF RECORD PURSUANT TO AFFIDAVIT DATED     , RECORDED AT DEED BOOK   , PAGE   . THIS      DAY OF             ,     ."

Ga. L. 1873, p. 42, § 1; Code 1873, § 1972; Code 1882, § 1972; Civil Code 1895, § 2787; Ga. L. 1909, p. 151, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 3329; Code 1933, § 67-1701; Ga. L. 1956, p. 562, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 970, § 2; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1050, § 3; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 44; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1487, § 1.