This section says which amounts are covered by certain claims and privileges, and it excludes attorney fees and other litigation expenses from that coverage.
§4803. Amounts secured by claims and privileges A. The privileges granted by R.S. 9:4801 and the claims granted by R.S. 9:4802 secure payment of: (1) The principal amounts of the obligations described in R.S. 9:4801 and 4802(A), interest due thereon, and fees paid for filing the statement required by R.S. 9:4822. (2) Expenses incurred by the claimant or other person having a privilege, for the cost of delivering movables that become component parts of the immovable, or are consumed at the site of the immovable, or are consumed in machinery or equipment used at the site of the immovable, if the amounts are owed by the owner, contractor, or subcontractor to the claimant or person having the privilege. (3) Amounts owed under collective bargaining agreements with respect to a laborer's or employee's wages or other compensation for which a claim or privilege is granted and which are payable to other persons for vacation, health and welfare, pension, apprenticeship and training, supplemental unemployment benefits, and other fringe benefits considered as wages by the secretary of labor of the United States in determining prevailing wage rates, unless the immovable upon which the work is performed is designed or intended to be occupied primarily as a residence by four families or less. Trustees, trust funds, or other persons to whom the employer is to make such payments may assert and enforce claims for the amounts in the same manner and subject to the same procedures provided for other amounts due laborers or employees granted a claim or privilege under this Part. B. Subject to the additional limitations of amount contained in R.S. 9:4804(B), the claim or privilege granted the lessor of a movable by R.S. 9:4801(4) or 4802(A)(4) is limited to and secures only that part of the rents accruing during the time the movable is located at the site of the immovable for use in a work. A movable shall be deemed not located at the site of the immovable for use in a work after the occurrence of any of the following: (1) The work is substantially completed or abandoned. (2) A notice of termination of the work is filed. (3) The lessee has abandoned the movable, or use of the movable in a work is completed or no longer necessary, and the owner or contractor gives written notice to the lessor of abandonment or completion of use. C. The privileges granted by R.S. 9:4801 and the claims and privileges granted by R.S. 9:4802 do not secure payment of attorney fees or other expenses of litigation. D. When a professional consultant or professional subconsultant is a juridical person, claims and privileges under this Part arise in favor of that juridical person for amounts owed to it under this Section, and no claim or privilege arises under this Part in favor of any surveyor, engineer, architect, or other person that it employs. Acts 1981, No. 724, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1982; Acts 2019, No. 325, §1. NOTE: See Acts 2019, No. 325, §§6, 7, and 10, regarding applicability.