Three Reasons Why Its Critical To Lien

Are you uncomfortable by one customer’s delay in paying for construction work? Are you putting off liening a project because your uncomfortable with the process or unsure of how to proceed?

Everyday, ExpressLien.Com helps contractors like you to understand the process of liening a construction project. Liening is simple, and it can be done within 10 minutes by giving us a call or filling out our online form.

Take the step, and learn how easy and inexpensive it can be to stop writing off so many losses! Here are just three reasons why it’s critical to lien a non-paying construction project.

Number One: You Can Only Have One Chance to Lien a Construction Project
Contractors have a unique and powerful legal remedy in construction liens…but not for long. Once your liening period has expired, you’ll never get the chance to put a lien on that project again.

If you want to pursue your legal remedies without filing a lien, you’ll be required to file a regular lawsuit for breach of contract – a process that may take years and cost you thousands. A construction lien is an adverse legal step against the non-paying party that only costs $235.00 (plus filing fees), and it places a restriction against the property that you can normally only achieve after years of litigation.

You only get one shot at filing your construction lien. Check your state’s time requirements at ExpressLien.com.

Number Two: Liens Freeze Funds
Are you a subcontractor afraid that the contractor is getting paid from the property owner but not disbursing the funds down the ranks? Do you have to pay your material suppliers and subcontractors while being told from the contractor that it hasn’t been paid by the owner?

Although the law does not require a freeze in funds, as a practical matter, filing a lien as a subcontractor against the property owner almost always causes the property owner to stop making further payments to the contractor. As a result of this “freeze” in funds, there is pressure on the contractor to pay the liening sub.

Many construction projects run into cash-flow concerns. Filing a construction lien is one way to prevent that cash-crunch from affecting your company.

Number Three: Get All Parties Involved
If you’re unable to get paid on a construction project, you have a legal remedy under contract law against the person who hired you. If you contracted with a general contractor, for example, you could sue the general contractor for payment if it refuses to pay your company for its services. Since you did not contract with the property owner, however, you would be unable to sue him or her.

Construction liens, however, completely changes who is liable to you for your consturction services. With a properly filed construction lien in the above example, you’d be able to file a lawsuit not only against the general contractor, but also against the owner. The owner may even be liable to you regardless of whether the general contractor had been paid for your work!

Clearly, this is a very powerful legal tool for contractors. Instead of relying on just one party to make payment to your company, a construction lien can make it possible for many parties to have liability for one party’s non-payment.