The Chartwell Chronicles: Medicare & Medicaid
Advancing Agriculture: Security Interests and Article 9 Challenges (Part 2)
Podcast - Credit Funds: Make-Wholes and Cramdowns: Understanding the Recent Second Circuit Momentive Decision
Connecticut Collections: How to get paid if you are owed money? Part 3: Steps in the Collection Process
Construction Lien Law: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Company
Bill on Bankruptcy: The Market's Unquenchable Thirst for Junk
Liens provide a means of recourse for contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers who have not been paid. In Washington, there are specific disclosure requirements that must be met before a licensed and registered contractor...more
In an unpublished opinion, a California appeals court has upheld a subcontractor’s mechanics lien claim despite the subcontractor’s failure to strictly follow the procedural requirements set forth in the mechanics lien...more
A mechanics’ lien is a powerful remedy that provides a contractor with a priority lien on a property and a fast means of being made whole if payment is not rendered at the completion of a job. In order to successfully obtain...more
Recently, the Oregon Court of Appeals reinstated a contractor’s mechanics lien claim notwithstanding the owner’s offer of payment because the offer was conditioned on the contractor signing a broad lien waiver that would have...more
Mechanic’s liens have long been a valuable tool for mechanics and materialmen in the Commonwealth to secure their rights to payment. Yet, despite mechanic’s liens having been in existence for well over a century, properly...more
In an ideal world, the interests of contractor and lender involved in the same construction project are aligned: the project succeeds, and everyone is paid what they’re owed. But when the interests of contractor and lender...more
Mechanics' liens on public construction projects are a fact of life. Although they may seem familiar, it does not pay to regard them too casually. Mechanics' liens are statutory creatures, and anyone dealing with them needs...more
Lien claims can pose serious challenges—and immense frustration—for any owner or developer of a private construction project, particularly for those wishing to refinance or sell the property. An owner with a finance...more
How can a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier secure payment for its work? One solution is to file a mechanics’ lien against a project’s property. Lien laws vary widely from state to state and time to time because...more
On August 5, 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a new law, Senate Bill 315, changing Georgia’s lien law statute, O.C.G.A. 44-14-366. The new statute, effective January 1, 2021, makes clear that lien waivers only waive...more
Within Virginia’s mechanic’s lien article is a little known, and little used, mechanism providing for personal liability of higher tiers separate from that article’s mechanic’s lien rights. The title is “How owner or general...more
Every month, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers submit applications for payment upstream along with a form they are contractually required to execute: a release and waiver of claims or liens, commonly called a “lien...more
A recent New York appellate court decision highlights the danger of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers not having a complete understanding of Section 38 of the Lien Law. It allows the party against whom a mechanic's...more
Whether you are the owner or the general contractor, dealing with mechanic’s liens filed by subcontractors or suppliers can be frustrating and, in some cases, present the very real threat of having to pay twice for work or...more
Contractors and suppliers are sometimes challenged to secure a claim for past due payment with a lien on the project, all subject to lien laws that vary throughout the United States. In Arizona, as in most states, the...more
In a recent decision, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) has held that a contractor seeking to enforce a lien dissolution bond under G.L. c. 254 § 14 need not record an attested to copy of its complaint with...more
The subcontractor's sworn statement is one of most effective tools that contractors can use to ensure that lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers receive adequate payment throughout the job, yet many contractors either fail...more
Effective December 31, 2016, Pennsylvania’s Mechanics’ Lien Law of 1963 (lien law) was amended to allow for an online State Construction Notices Directory (directory) to provide notice to parties involved in projects costing...more
In an opinion published in September 2014, entitled Moorefield Construction, Inc. v. Intervest Mortgage Investment Company, et al., D065464, the California Court of Appeal held an original contractor can contractually waive...more
The Pennsylvania Legislature recently passed, and Governor Tom Corbett signed into law, Act 142 amending the Mechanics’ Lien Law of 1963 to create the State Construction Notices Directory. The Directory, which is slated to...more
The rate of bankruptcies among construction industry participants is higher than some think. The bankruptcy of a developer creates an “automatic stay” under federal law preventing almost all collection activities, including...more
The smoke has finally cleared in a hard and long-fought battle between a bank and contractor both claiming priority to foreclose millions of dollars on a Phoenix condominium project. The project, well-known as Summit at...more
In the wake of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ long-awaited ruling in Noatex Corp. v. King Construction of Houston, LLC, Case No. 12-60385 (5th Cir. Oct. 10, 2013), which struck down Mississippi's now-repealed Stop-Notice...more
Occasionally, old news is new news. The topic of notice by subcontractors and suppliers to preserve their lien and bond payment rights is discussed more often than may be necessary, but inattention or carelessness in regard...more