If you’ve ever had a mechanics’ lien placed on your property you know that it has nothing to do with your car or the mechanic that you use for auto repairs. But if you’ve never heard much about this particular legal maneuver, you’ll agree with most of the people who find themselves in a similar position: the name is what makes the mechanics’ lien so confusing; they are actually most often used by subcontractors and suppliers. It’s a legal claim against a property that has been improved or remodeled in some way. For example, you may decide to remodel the entryway of your property, installing all new lighting, raising the ceiling, knocking out a wall, adding an arch, installing a skylight and replacing the flooring. You hire a contractor to handle …show more content…
The law states that if a subcontractor on a job is not paid, even if the contractor on the job is paid in full, the subcontractor has the right to come after the owner of the property and the property on which the improvement was made. This is why it’s so important to understand the “mechanics” of the mechanics’ lien. You don’t want to end up forced to pay for the work twice – or worse, forced to sell your house in order to get out from underneath a mechanics’ …show more content…
If you don’t see the logic behind the mechanics’ lien there are two matters that you probably aren’t taking into consideration. First, at a fundamental level, the law assumes that between the person who ordered all new lighting for their house and the electrician who placed the order and fronted the cash, the electrician’s need to be paid is probably greater. Second, the law presumes that you as the owner who paid the contractor for the job in full can simply respond to this situation by suing the general contractor. This is true, but there’s still a big problem to deal with immediately. When a mechanics’ lien is placed, you may have days or months to pay what is owed the subcontractor or the property can be sold to satisfy the debt. In comparison, you can sue the general contractor, but obtaining the money from this direction will probably be a long process.
How can you avoid the problems that come with mechanics’ liens?
1. Pay for the work being done with joint checks. Offering a series of checks made out jointly to the general contractor and subcontractors working on the job is a good way to ensure that everyone gets paid. Joint checks can only be cashed if the “ultimate” beneficiary endorses it, which helps ensure that subcontractors and suppliers are paid.
2. Obtain a lien waiver. You can instruct your general contractor to obtain lien waivers from all suppliers and subcontractors working on the job and that the general contractor will be responsible
A writ of execution applies to a debtor’s nonexempt real or personal property wherever located.
26.1)Mechanic's Lien. Ironwood Exploration, Inc. (Ironwood) owned a lease on oil and gas property located in Duchesne County, Utah. Ironwood contracted to have Lantz Drilling and Exploration Company, Inc. (Lantz), drill an oil well on the property. Therafter, Lantz rented equipment from Graco Fishing and Rental Tools, Inc. (Graco), for use in drilling the well. Graco billed Lantz for these rentals, but Lantz did not pay. Graco filed a notice of mechanic's lien on the well in the amount of $19,766. Ironwood, which had paid Lantz, refused to pay Graco. Graco sued to forclose on its
Robert Chuckrow Construction Company (Chuckrow) was employed as the general contractor to build a Kinney Shoe Store. Chuckrow employed Ralph Gough to perform the carpentry work on the store. The contract with Gough stipulated that he was to provide all labor, materials, tools, equipment, scaffolding, and other items necessary to complete the carpentry work. Gough’s employees erected 38 trusses at the job site. The next day, 32 of the trusses fell off the building. The reason for the trusses having fallen was unexplained, and evidence showed that it was not due to Chuckrow’s fault or a deficiency in the building plans. Chuckrow told Gough that he would pay him to reerect the trusses and continue work. When the job was complete, Chuckrow paid Gough the original contract price but refused to pay him for the additional cost of reerecting the trusses. Gough sued Chuckrow for this expense. Can Gough recover?
40. Principle of Law: In this case, Esposito hired Excel Construction Company to repair a porch roof. All terms of the agreement were specified in a written contract. And the dispute occurred when Excel had repaired the rear porch roof because in the agreement failed to specify whether it was the front or rear porch that needed repair. Under civil law, two parties here had signed a civil contract in writing. Because the contract failed to specify clearly front or rear porch roof, Excel completed its obligation and didn’t break the contract.
10. Prepare pricing and scoring schedules and have project team members meet to discuss the scores and agree. Also, confirm the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal. No more than three vendors should still be involved in this process.
The seventh step that I would take is to avoid further damage, and to do this, I will clean or repair small things before the claim is settled. Additionally, I will make sure that I use a contractor approved by my insurance company.
On October 22, 2014, the FIDM lien was requested in accordance with the Code of Alabama 1975 30-3, 30-3-197 and 30-3-198. On October 23, 2014, the Secretary of State acknowledged the lien and the levy was requested. On the same day, the Notice of Levy was sent to the financial institution. On October 27, 2014, the levy package was generated for the NCP. On December 9, 2014, the Lien Unit received a notice from the Navy Federal Credit Union that account numbers 3019677362, 3044625709, 7034239553, and 3044624900; the accounts have zero funds for payment. The levy was released; it was re-added due to the account on the FIDM screen; not listed on notice having funds. On that same day, the FIDM levy was released on the account #530116705. Again, on that day, the FIDM levy was requested and the notice was sent to the financial institution. On December 11, 2014, the FIDM Levy package was produced. On February 25, 2015, the NCP contacted the Lien Unit and stated that he had sent a statement of benefits letter from social security about two weeks ago. The Lien Unit told him that they had not received the information and requested the NCP to send the information and the Request for a Review Form via fax to expedite the process. On March 20, 2015, the Lien Unit contacted the NCP; he stated he mailed the statement from social security about a month ago and wanted confirmation that it was received. The NCP was advised that no documents had been received. Again, the Lien Unit requested the NCP to fax in the documents. On March 25, 2015, through contact of voice mail, the Lien Unit requested the NCP’s last three months bank statements on the account affected by the lien or where the social security benefits are deposited. Later that day, the Lien Unit informed the NCP that the Social Security Administration
Under the law of partnership, all partners were jointly and severally liable for the debts, because the acts of one partner, acting within the apparent scope of his authority, bound the entire partnership. The court found that the trial court did not clearly err in determining that the mechanic 's liens, held by the suppliers, were inferior to the construction mortgages perfected by the banks. The mortgages were recorded prior to the commencement of the construction of the improvements on each project site, so they were prior to the suppliers ' liens, relating to construction materials obtained thereafter. Further, the mortgages were valid under Ark. Stat. Ann. § 51-605, because the aggregate sum requirement in the mortgage satisfied the
Present at the Lien Conference, in addition to the undersigned, was lien representative, Ms. Gina White, on behalf of Med Nation, Inc., United Health Services, and New Age Pharmacy. Lien representative, Mr. Bill Klomhous, was present on behalf of Encino Care Pharmacy and Comprehensive Interpreting. Lien representative, Ms. Blanca Rivera, was present on behalf
Law 95-563, by which only contractors, not subcontractors, may pursue claims against the government, and the term “contractor” is clearly defined as “a party to a Government contract other that the Government.” 41 U.S. C. §601 (4). To make the even clearer, the FAR prohibits a government contracting officer from consenting to a subcontract that obligates the contracting officer to deal directly with a subcontractor or that makes the results of arbitration, judicial determination or voluntary settlement between the prime contractor ad subcontractor binding on the government. FAR 44.203 (b). Lack of privities and the resulting barrier to direct claims does not, however, mean that no way whatsoever exists for a subcontractor’s claim to be heard. The regulations permit and the astute government contractor will ensure that its subcontract with the federal prime contractor will provide for “sponsorship of a subcontractor’s claim. Sponsorship is the practice whereby the prime contractor nominally prosecutes what in fact is the subcontractor’s claim against the government. The appeal of the claim is brought in the name of prime contractor even though the subcontractor is the real party in interest. FAR 44.203 (c) (Government Contract Law, pp. 419-420). Performance and payment bonds are an available tool to be mandated by the government for the protection of itself and of subcontractors.
If there are municipal charges, they are the seller’s responsibility. However, if they aren’t paid, the buyer can ultimately be held liable.
The contractor, upon the breach of his obligations, he caused some damages to the owner and he should be exposed to forfeiture.
But imagine for a minute if any financial burden (like a lien) is imposed on your property and at the same time you realize that it was never reported to you before nor does it exist in any official reports of the county where your house is located? What can protect you from such unexpected occurrence?
While we were writing the contract, we made the mistake of not thoroughly reading through our contract. Instead of having 65.2% on the contract we wrote 2.5% for the percentage of money I would be paying him for the pits. This meant I would have been paying significantly less money than we had initially negotiated. We both signed the contract while it had 2.5% on it and because of this I had the opportunity to take advantage of the mistake and only have to pay a small percentage of what Tray was going to have to pay. After looking over the contract, I felt that fixing the mistake was better in the long run because I would have a better relationship with him after the negotiation, and I would also not go against what we had previously discussed in the negotiation. I believed that my integrity was more important to me than the payment. I did recognize this weakness, but I did not capitalize on the weakness.
Eggelston, B (1997). Publisher; Blackwell Publishing, Place of Publish; Oxford, Liquidated damages and extension of time in construction contracts, 2nd ed. p252.