Lien Maze for General Contractors – Louisiana
On October 1, 2007
By Scott Wolfe Jr
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The Louisiana Private Works Act contains the legal requirements for general contractors to reserve and file “liens.” If you’re a small general contractor doing work in Louisiana, its critical for you to familiarize yourself with the contents of this Act and the special requirements applicable to general contractors to file liens.
While a subcontractor can typically lien any job by filing the proper documents within 30 or 60 days after stopping work, a general contractor lacks this kind of luxury. In most circumstances, a general contractor must begin preserving its rights to file a lien before any work begins on the jobsite.
Contracts More Than $25,000.00
If a construction contract exceeds $25,000.00, the general contractor must file a “Notice of Contract” with the proper recording office before beginning any work. Failure to file this document forfeits the general contractor’s lien privileges. If the general contractor later files a lien on the project, the lien will be filed improperly and removable at the general contractor’s expense.
Construction on Residential Properties
If your general contracting company is doing work on a residential building, you may be required to comply with the Resident Truth in Construction Act to preserve your lien privileges.
The Residential Truth in Construction Act mandates that the general contractor have any homeowner sign a rather lengthy “Notice of Lien Rights” waiver before work begins on a residential project. Failure to get this document signed results in a forfeiture of a general contractor’s lien rights. For purposes of this Act, a “residence” is defined as a dwelling occupied by its owner.
General Lien Requirements
Additionally, all the typical lien requirements apply to generals, including: timelines, necessity of a legal property description, identification of the parties and their mailing addresses, statement of when payment of the price is to be made and descriptions in general terms of the work to be done.
Importance of These Precautions and Filing a Lien
Taking the necessary precautions to preserve your right to lien a project is important and imperative. Liens are a priceless tool for your company to promptly collect on its account receivables and protect you company’s ability to get paid for its work.
Failure to understand and to meet the conditions of the Private Works Act can be fatal to your lien privileges. An improperly filed lien – while perhaps on the books – is a legal liability for your organization. An interested party can easily remove an improperly filed lien and the removal of the lien will quite possibly be at your company’s expense.
Zlien is experienced in filing liens and helping your construction company smoothly complete and collect on projects. Visit Zlien.com to begin filing your lien, or call us today to discuss how we can help your organization.
About the Author: Scott Wolfe Jr
A construction attorney and entrepreneur. Scott is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, obtaining his J.D. degree from Loyola University of New Orleans, and his B.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 New Orleans City Business magazine named Scott Wolfe, Jr. as one the 50 Leaders in Law. The son and grandson of general contractors, Scott Wolfe, Jr. is a construction litigator in Louisiana and Washington, and the founding member of the bi-coastal firm, Wolfe Law Group. Scott is also the founder and CEO of Express Lien, Inc., a legal document preparation service for contractors. In 2008, City Business Magazine recognized Scott as one of its Innovators of the Year for the Express Lien concept. Scott is also the founder and CEO of The Web Lab, InCharge Technology, Blog No Evil, Inc., Publius, Inc. and Two Cities Publishing, LLC.
Twitter: http://www.jntdevelopers.com
So tell me how can help me for my company???
Twitter: scottwolfejr
Thanks for the comment and for the visit. We help companies like yours all over the United States get paid more consistently. A lot of times, contractors or suppliers will approach our company because their bad debts or accounts receivables are too high, and we help them craft a collections policy that results in improving these figures. And our specific talent is helping companies like yours use the mechanic’s lien remedy to accomplish these goals.
I personally practice construction law in four states (Louisiana, Washington, Oregon and California), and have consulted on projects all across the country. From my experience in this profession and within the industry, I feel very comfortable preaching that the mechanic’s lien process is hands-down the best way for someone in construction to protect their right to get paid. It’s a remarkable tool available to very few industries…but to use it, you must really understand how the process works.
That’s where Zlien comes in. We help you manage and monitor all of the notice and lien requirements across the country. Our clients basically give us their project information, and then kick their feet up, while we do the work to make sure they are complying with lien law regulations across the country. If someone doesn’t pay our client down the road, they will be best situated to enforce their lien rights…which in a lot of cases, is the difference between getting paid and not getting paid.
I’d be happy to speak with you further about this if you’re interested. You can contact me by email (scott@zlien.com) or phone (866-720-5436).
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