Section 44-14-364. Release of lien on approval of bond; amount; real property bonds; schedule, affidavit, and recordation; superior court clerk held harmless for good faith discretionary acts in connection with bond approval

   (a) When any person entitled under this part to claim a lien against any real estate located in this state files his or her lien in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the real estate is located, the owner of the real estate or the contractor employed to improve the property may, before or after foreclosure proceedings are instituted, discharge the lien upon the approval of a bond by the clerk of superior court. The bond shall be conditioned to pay to the holder of the lien the sum that may be found to be due the holder upon the trial of any lien action that may be filed by the lienholder to recover the amount of his or her claim within 365 days from the time the claim of lien is filed. The bond shall be in double the amount claimed under that lien and shall be either a bond with good security approved by the clerk of superior court or a cash bond, except in cases involving a lien against the owner's domicile, in which event the bond shall be in the amount claimed under the lien. An owner or contractor may be required to provide supporting data to the clerk to prove the value of domiciled property when such property serves as a bond to discharge a lien provided for in this Code section. Upon the approval by the clerk of the bond provided for in this Code section, the real estate shall be discharged from the lien. For purposes of this subsection, the term "domicile" means the established, fixed, permanent, or ordinary dwelling place of the owner.

(b) Within seven days of filing the bond required by subsection (a) of this Code section and any attachments, the party filing such bond shall send a notice of filing such bond and a copy of the bond by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the lien claimant at the address stated on the lien or, if no such address is shown for the lien claimant, to the person shown as having filed such lien on behalf of the claimant at the indicated address of such person or, if the bond is filed by a contractor, to the owner of the property, provided that whenever the lien claimant or the owner is an entity on file with the Secretary of State's Corporations Division, sending the notice of filing such bond and a copy of the bond to the company's address or the registered agent's address on file with the Secretary of State shall be deemed sufficient; provided, however, that the failure to send the notice of filing the bond and copy of the bond shall not invalidate the bond for purposes of discharge of a claim of lien under this Code section. With respect to property bonds, the clerk shall not accept any real property bond unless the real property is scheduled in an affidavit attached thereto setting forth a description of the property and indicating the record owner thereof, including any liens and encumbrances and amounts thereof, the market value, and the value of the sureties' interest therein, which affidavit shall be executed by the owner or owners of the interest; the bond and affidavit shall be recorded in the same manner and at the same cost as other deeds of real property. So long as the bond exists, it shall constitute a lien against the property described in the attached affidavit.

(c) The clerk of the superior court shall have the right to rely upon the amount specified in the claim of lien in determining the sufficiency of any bond to discharge under this Code section. The failure to specify both the amount claimed due under the lien and the date said claim was due shall result in such lien not constituting notice for any purposes.

(d) The clerk of the superior court shall be held harmless for good faith regarding any discretionary act in connection with approval of any bond provided for in this Code section.

Code 1933, § 67-2004, enacted by Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 544, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 469, § 1; Ga. L. 1981, p. 916, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1450, § 2; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1063, § 4/SB 374; Ga. L. 2012, p. 173, § 1-37/HB 665.