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You are not alone if you have never heard of a Mechanic’s Lien or if you have heard the word but are still determining its meaning.
Take the time to properly understand the mechanic’s lien laws in your State or any other State you do business in, when you are a general contractor, sub-contractor, building material suppliers, a professional in the construction industry or even a labor provider. By being aware of the mechanic’s lien laws in the State where you do with you can ensure that following procedure, protects your income.
A mechanic’s lien is a formal claim against real estate that aids in securing payment. A Mechanic’s Lien is a lien filed on the Owner’s property by the general contractor, sub-contractor, building material suppliers, a professional in the construction industry and labor provider for monies owed to them. It imposes a claim on a property until full payment is received. The claim is a lien on the property, and it only gets distinguished when the claim is paid off via a property refinance, sale or by perfecting it in court by filing a law suit against the property owner, or simply paying it off directly to the party who filed the claim/lien.
Every State has construction lien laws, which allow contractors and suppliers to place a lien on the property where work was performed if they aren’t paid. Due to the lien’s attachment to the property title and owner-created hassles, it is the last option but a very effective instrument for helping construction businesses get paid.
The process of submitting a lien is not overly complicated at first glance. It only takes a few minutes to fill out a construction Mechanic’s lLen form, especially with the i-Lien software, that simplifies the process, and submit it to the recording office of the jurisdiction where the property is located. Depending on the State, the party filing the claim has sixty days to two years (on average) to negotiate payment with the property owner after filing a claim.
However, rather than seeing a Mechanics Lien as a single document, it’s wiser to view it as a process. It is because, in most situations, a contractor must issue specific notices at the start or throughout a project to safeguard their right to file a lien eventually if they don’t get paid. You can find that you don’t genuinely have lien rights when you need them, if you skip a step or miss a deadline.
Even the most minor errors in the Mechanic’s Lien process may invalidate your payment claim. The devil is in the details, and American Mechanics Lien rules demand unprecedented specificity. Additionally, the regulations vary based on the real estate’s location and the project’s type.
Despite the challenges, a Mechanics Lien is the most powerful payment guarantee for construction companies. It may be more effective than taking legal action to execute a construction contract (which ultimately depends on a judgment lien). Contrarily, a construction lien frequently enables a contractor to receive payment without needing to retain legal counsel or appear in court.
You must first be aware of the urgency to submit a mechanic’s lien. You risk having your request rejected if you wait too long to file and only do so when a mechanics lien is required. You must provide clear notices in advance, usually at the start of the project, to maintain your right to file your lien. These notices are generally known as “Preliminary Notices to Owner” and “Notices of Intent to Lien (NOI).” The following are three main steps before even filing a mechanic’s lien:
The procedure for filing a lien shouldbegin with sending a preliminary notification with proof of mailing or via Certified Mail where required. It is the Preliminary Notice to Owner that establishes the Lien Rights to get paid. Preliminary notifications, also known as “Pre-Lien Notices to Owner” or “Preliminary Notices to the Owner,” are written communications given by the construction party to the project ‘s property owner to let them know who is involved in the project. In order to prove that the Notice was sent, you must “Proof of Service, such as US Post Office Certified Mail with return receipt or a stamp on the PS3877 form
Besides having the legal requirement in most States to provide a Preliminary Notice to Owner even on small jobs, consider these notices a form of inexpensive insurance for your construction business. Even though everything might go without a hitch, this is only to ensure that you have established your Prelien Rights and you are prepared to protect your income and get paid, if there is an issue.
The next stage in the procedure is to submit an NOI, “Notice of Intent”, also known as a “Lien Warning Notice” or “Notice of Intent to Lien.” You will deliver this notice as a final reminder if you have been working on the propertybut have yet to receive payment. Doing this will offer the paying party one last opportunity to pay the cost before you place a Mechanic’s Lien on their property.
Before filing a Mechanic’s Lien, some States may require claimants to send a Notice of Intent; nevertheless, even if this is not a requirement in some States, it is still advisable to provide a Notice of Intent. Delivering an NOI lets the parties know that you’re genuinely concerned about it and gives them a chance to work out a payment solution.
The parties making the payments will want to avoid having liens, so doing so will help everyone involved resolved the unpaid balance. The notice is always delivered following a Preliminary Notice to Owner and before the filing of a lien. States that require NOIs have different deadlines. Inform yourself with those different requirements for the States you do business in.
Construction businesses may formally file a Mechanic’s Lien form sign and notirized with the county where the property they performed work is located,if payment is not made by the conclusion of the 20–30-day notice period.
Mechanic’s Liens are the best strategy for recovering payments for unpaid suppliers and contractors. The job site becomes collateral for a contractor’s debt when a mechanics lien is filed. It encourages the party with a lien to make restitution and put the dispute to rest.
State-specific deadlines vary, but generally speaking, a Mechanics Len needs to be filed within a certain amount of time from the final day that labor or supplies were provided. A Mechanics Lien must then be enforced within a certain time from the day it was filed and at that point a lawyer will have to be involved in order to perfect the lien.
Preparing your Mechanic’s Liens involves more than downloading a form, filling it out, and submitting it. Lien laws are complex, so you must take care and provide the necessary details in your construction Mechanic’s Lien forms. And you need to be attentive to use the proper form.
The good news is that i-Lien Software makes the mechanic’s lien process a breeze. You no longer need to spend hours getting your construction mechanic’s lien forms right. The i-Lien software automates and streamlines the process of creating Construction Lien notices & Mechanic’s Lien documents to save time, safeguard your rights, and help you get paid quickly! Call us Today!
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Mechanic’s lien rights have become a popular jargon in the construction industry. They’re powerful tools that contractors, subcontractors, labor/material suppliers, and other project participants can use to protect themselves from the risk of not being paid for services rendered.
However, many persons in the construction industry remain unaware of how construction liens work or how to enforce their lien rights in a worst-case scenario.
Hence, in this article, we’ll walk readers through the basics of lien rights and factors you need to consider before the construction begins, during, and after it ends. Moreover, we’ll share how to establish your lien rights and five valuable tips to preserve them.
Lien rights refer to a contractor’s, subcontractor’s, or supplier’s authority to file a mechanic’s lien against property owners legally. It’s a means of enforcing payment for work performed or rendered services in the event of prolonged delays or reluctance to pay.
In other words, lien rights provide a form of security against financial risks as they provide a legal claim on the property title and revoke the owner’s right to sell it or refinance the property, until they are paid what they are owed for the job performed.
Unpaid parties providinglabor and materials for a private commercial or residential project can also file a mechanic’s lien to protect their interest and eventually receive payment from the property owner by perfecting their claim in court. In layman’s terms, enforcing your lien’s rights is equivalent to placing a wheel clamp on the property on which you’ve just completed work. .
Mechanic’s liens can also enforce a lawsuit that could prompt property owners to pay more than what they owe, depending on the damages caused to unpaid parties during the period, such as project losses, failed loan payments, etc.
However, to establish your lien rights, you must be highly proactive and do your due diligence to ensure you’re well prepared by providing the property owner and all parties involved in the project with a Preliminary Notice to Owner; without one being provided or filed, you cannot establish your Lien Rigts to begin with. Read further…
As with anything involving courts and legal proceedings, you must adhere to certain rules and regulations. In most states, you must provide the owner with a preliminary notice outlining all the parties involved in the job and the total amount owed for the project.
The Mechanic’s Lien will be filed with the county where the property is located if the property owner does not pay the full amount by the deadline, ranging from a few weeks to a whole year following completion, depending on the state.
The Preliminary Notice to Owner must be sent days so many days in advance or within the timeline provided by each State when providing labor or materials. The Preliminary Notice is to be sent to all the parties involved in the job besides the property owner.
Some states require Preliminary Notices to be sent during the project or following completion, such as Arizona (20 days after starting), Arkansas (75 days before completion), and Indiana (60/90 days after completion). Moreover, it’s also smart to send a Preliminary Notice to establish your Lien Rights even if your State doesn’t require one at all or requires one in certain circumstances. States with these conditions include Texas, Hawaii, Nebraska, Idaho, and Pennsylvania.
After sending the notice, you need to preserve your Lien Rights by following strict deadlines and not missing out on tasks or documentation. Otherwise, you could lose your Lien Rights.
The following are some valuable tips you can use to preserve your Lien Rights to ensure you’re paid what you’re owed for work performed or services rendered:
The last thing you want is to have relevant information missing from your Mechanic’s Lien. Remember, judges are instructed to review these documents carefully and identify, invalidate, and even scrutinize any inaccuracies. Hence, you need to ensure the Mechanic’s Lien contains precise information related to the project type, property owner, contractor, licensing information, lender, bond, if applicable, etc.
Preparing multiple contracts is among the best strategies you can use to preserve your Lien Rights. The process involves drafting separate purchase orders and labor contracts with one master contract so you can file multiple Mechanic’s Lien claims.
When filing a Mechanic’s Lien claim, make sure you pay attention to the property’s description and remove any bare land that may not be a part of your project to ensure the courts enforce your contract. This is one of many loopholes owners try to exploit to delay or refuse payment.
To preserve your Lien Rights before beginning work, make sure the owner is aware you’re the contractor working on the project, especially if you don’t have a direct contract. Ideally, you should send Notice to the Owner at least 45 days before procuring labor or materials for the job site.
Most Lien Release forms have through dates that free owners of any rights contractors, suppliers, or other unpaid parties have up over them during the lien period. So, before you sign it, make sure you check the amount on the form and ensure it matches your calculations. The last thing you want is to sign a document without reading the fine print first.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t establish and preserve your lien rights unless you issue a pre-lien notice to all responsible property owners. Moreover, you need to ensure your Preliminary Notice is drafted correctly as per your State’s laws and delivered timely.
Therefore, there’s little margin for error, as even the smallest mistakes could stop you from getting paid what you’re owed.
i-Lien is a game-changing software solution designed to help automate and authenticate the Preliminary Notice drafting process. The solution has been integrated with different State laws and regulations.
Hence, you can save hours of research and avoid any costly errors. i-Lien also enables you to create a wide array of other legally-binding documents, Lien Warning Notices, Waivers and Releases, , Commencement Notices, and more.
So, get in touch with our team and explore what our innovative mechanic’s liens solution has to offer.
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