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Top 10 Construction Lien Errors

5187 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  pipebiz
I think many contractors will find this revealing and will be able to react proactively in the event that they do need to proceed in this manner.

Ed




http://constructionlienblog.com/2008/11/lienerrors/#comments



Top 10 Construction Lien Errors

Published on November 27, 2008 by Scott Wolfe Jr
From Creative Commons

Debb & Derkin, P.A., a law firm practicing construction law in Florida and filing construction liens in that state, published an article listing the Top 10 Construction Lien Errors.
While the article and Top 10 listing is related to Florida lien laws, since most lien laws in the U.S. are substantially similar, the same errors appear time and time again on liens across the nation.
The Top 10 Lien Errors highlight by Mr. Debb in the article are:
  1. Failure to Timely Serve Notice to the Owner
  2. Failure to Serve Notices on Proper Parties
  3. Failure to Serve Notices by Proper Method
  4. Contingent Payment Clauses
  5. Overstatement of Amounts Due and Owing
  6. Failure to Respond to Sworn Statement Requests
  7. Failure to Timely File a Claim of Lien
  8. Failure to Provide Copy of Claim of Lien
  9. Failure to Foreclose on Claim of Lien within Time Required by Statutes
  10. Failure to Secure Proper Licensing
Express Lien, Inc. is experienced in filing construction liens in states across the country, and ensuring that your lien is filed professionally and accurately. Trust your next construction lien to our professionals.
It’s why we say: Lien Smarter…Get Paid.
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Or you could let me lien it. The one and only time I ever had to lien somebody, I did it myself. After a few months, we settled at the pretrial and I was given a check for the full amount. About 3 years later, I get a phone call from title company, telling me the lien was still in effect and this delayed a closing for the owners. Oh, so sorry. I wanted to leave it on for a couple more days, but my lawyer said to not mess around.
Or you could let me lien it. The one and only time I ever had to lien somebody, I did it myself. After a few months, we settled at the pretrial and I was given a check for the full amount. About 3 years later, I get a phone call from title company, telling me the lien was still in effect and this delayed a closing for the owners. Oh, so sorry. I wanted to leave it on for a couple more days, but my lawyer said to not mess around.
You are required to release the lien after it has been satisfied, within a reasonable amount of time, 3 years is not reasonable, since you waited 3 years to do it, you could have been sued for damages, if the guys lawyer knew what he was doing, you would have lost that lawsuit.
We all hope we never have to go there , but it happens . It's good to be on top of it and I am going to tighten up the belt on my process . I play nice guy to often . I just finished a two month remodel and I let the guy slide a little on payment as there were lots of extra's from all the sub's . I have done several jobs for this guy and he is pretty trustworthy . The point is I did trust him , the lien time lapsed and he could have run me around for a long time . I have to admit I was getting a little concerned , sent another reminder and was ready to get more face to face . I don't take credit cards , but I did sign up for p pal a while back just in case . Well , he did pay with pal and life is good . It took a couple of payments as it was well over the limit but it's in the bank now and life is good . I think if I was waiting for a check I would still be holding my hand out . It was a stupid move on my part and could have turned into a bad situation . I was burned for about 3k about twenty years ago and haven't had any problems since so I got a little slack . We are now back to following the contract to the letter and following up if necessary . It turned out ok but let me say it again ... stupid !
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Looking for the timelines

Hey Ed, any idea where I can find the timelines on lien filing in Rockford, IL? Something that explains it in "simple english" I have a small one in the works, expecting the customer to step up to the plate when I served the notice on them. But it looks like they're playing the "waiting game"
Thanks for all the helpful information that you have already put out there.:thumbup:
Hey Ed, any idea where I can find the timelines on lien filing in Rockford, IL? Something that explains it in "simple english" I have a small one in the works, expecting the customer to step up to the plate when I served the notice on them. But it looks like they're playing the "waiting game"
Thanks for all the helpful information that you have already put out there.:thumbup:
The most informative site I use is this one.

http://www.lienmechanics.com/learn/learn3.html

Make sure you click on and follow and read all of the links.

Ed
I have a lien preparing to file in IL and got my info. from the site Ed posted there. Once I understood that thuroughly I then searched for the actual legislature and read that word for word just to make sure that site had it covered. I did not find anything of extreme importance in the legislature that was not covered in the summary posted at lienmechanics...com

It is pretty straight forward and it appears that as long as you meet your timelines and follow the top 10 listed here you will retain all of your legal rights. Good luck!
Do you know the timelines for filing liens in palm beach county, Fl.?
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