Lien Smarter, Eat a Shrimp Po-Boy…and Get Paid

Let’s discuss Express Lien over a shrimp po boy!

If you’re in town visiting New Orleans for the roofing convention, Express Lien would love to discuss the benefits of our service. Express Lien’s New Orleans office is located steps from the famous St. Charles Avenue street car line.  Call (866-720-5436) or email.  It’s our treat.

The Int’l Roofing Expo is the must-attend event for roofing professionals to stay abreast of market directions, trends and cutting-edge technology.  Exhibits & Conference this year is in New Orleans, LA, from February 22-24, 2010.

http://www.TheRoofingExpo.com

Take a break from the conference and let us treat you to lunch.

Contractors Using Mobile Software in 2010?

One of our favorite publications – Constructech – recently published a web article titled “Making the Most of Mobility.”  The article suggests that emerging mobile software and technologies are enabling construction companies to improve their project collaboration.

What are some good examples of using mobile applications to help out in the field?  How about all those change orders that can’t get signed because construction projects just move too quickly?  Wouldn’t it be nice to have the owner or the contractor sign something on the spot, right on your iPhone or other mobile device?

Well, all that stuff is certainly on its way, but what about us at Express Lien – are we going to be releasing anything that helps folks file and manage notices and liens on-the-go.

Duh!

We don’t have anything announce quite yet, but keep your eyes open for the launch of mobile apps that allow you and your company to easily see and manage notices, liens, deadlines and more.

Stay tuned.

Is Utah’s SCR (State Construction Registry) A Model For Rest of States?

Since 2005, Utah has maintained a standardized, state-wide system for filing preliminary notices, notices of commencement and notices of completion – the State Construction Registry, or SCR.  The result?  Any supplier, contractor or other interested party can log into the system, search for a project, and know exactly when it started and begun, and who is working on it.

This is a huge time-saver for folks working on construction projects in Utah.    We know the frustration contractors and suppliers have in other states, because we experience them ourselves at Express Lien.

The property records offices in counties across the country can be an absolute mess.   Sometimes, its next to impossible for a subcontractor or supplier to locate the legal proeprty description for a parcel of land, the name of the property owner, and whether anything has been filed on the project.    Even though its incredibly hard to find this information, the contractor or supplier may still be responsible to know it.

Imagine if across the country this information was inputted into standardized online registry of construction projects?    That’s how things work in Utah.

In and out of Utah, one of the most compelling selling features of the Express Lien service is that we make things simple for you.    After all, running your construction or supply business is difficult enough that you shouldn’t have to be research experts, or monitor lien and notice requirements across the 50 states.   How is this for simple:   You give us the project details, and our staff researches the property owner and the legal property description for you.

This can save your company hours, and since we’re more experienced at searching for this data, our search results are reliable.

Even thought the information is more accessible in Utah, that doesn’t nullify our utility.   You give us the project information, and we do the legal work.   Forget about spending an hour or two figuring out the SCR system, or having to followup with the city, or having to verify information by doing research online.

Express Lien is the smarter way to lien, and we guarantee it.

We Can Help You Lien Smarter – And We Guarantee It

A deal is not a deal until… their check clears the bank.

Express Lien understands the mechanics of getting paid within the construction industry, and that full and final payment is a challenging aspect of your business.

Express Lien’s full service guarantee offers peace of mind.

In the event, your company is paid before the lien document is recorded within the county, we will refund your money! Express Lien loves to hear about you getting paid.

Therefore, you can make the deal with Express Lien and if your deal produces payment before the lien is recorded……that’s a good deal for us, too.

Place the order. Make payment happen.

These Folks Love Us on Twitter- Do You?

Hey, our blog is pretty cool….but, should you follow us on Twitter, you’d be blown away. That is, of course, if you find the topic of mechanics liens to be as fascinating as we do. And if not, we throw in a few comments about our beloved New Orleans Saints here and there to make the strictly technical talk bearable.

We’ve created a mosaic of some of our Twitter followers. These are just a few of the people who love what we do online.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

We’d be thrilled to add you to the list. Follow us today, and we’ll show you how to Lien Smarter.

Free Lien Resources at ExpressLien.com

Did you know that Express Lien provides comprehensive lien resources on its website for free?  No strings attached, and no signing up required.

The best place to start is on our Lien Law Punchlists and Forms page, within the Support section of the Express Lien website.   Here, you can download free forms (for liens, notices and more), as well as a brief one-page summary of each state’s lien laws.   Currently, our most popular states are represented, but we’re adding more resources everyday.

Coming soon?   Useful links, videos, and more.

It’s our goal to be the single most comprehensive resource to contractors for construction liens and bond claims.   How are we doing?

The Express Lien Team Celebrates New Year in California

To celebrate the New Year, many of us from the Express Lien team headed to wine country in California.   The weather was perfect, and it was a much needed break from the everyday requirements of responding to messages, working on our lien and notice management software, and fulfilling notice and lien orders.

That’s not to say we took a break from that!

To the contrary, we used the hotel wi-fi to keep up with our clients and their orders.  Here are some photos of us taking care of business from the hotel’s lobby on the Monday morning after New Years.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Vote For Construction Lien Blog As Best Construction Blog

The good folks at ConstructionMarketingIdeas.com are holding a Best Construction Blog Competition, and the Construction Lien Blog has been nominated.

If you’re a fan of what we do here, we’d appreciate you visiting this page and casting your vote for us.  You can also vote for our friends the Construction Law Monitor and Construction Law Musings.   They are just above us on the list.

As usual, thanks for reading!

Think You Know The Last Date You Delivered Materials or Performed Services? Think Again

Back in November 2009, we posted “The Importance of Knowing When Your Lien Period Begins,” discussing the importance of knowing how to calculate your project’s “trigger dates.”

What is a trigger date?

Every state provides contractors and materialmen the right to lien a project, but they also require these parties to file their liens within a certain “lien period.”   The lien period always has a beginning point and an ending point…but the question sometimes arises, when exactly does the lien period begin and end?

It’s a surprising complex question, and when liens are filed in proximity to the lien period’s expiration dates, parties may become involved with proceedings to contest the liens validity and the exact beginning date of the lien period.

In many states, the lien period begins with the last date a claimant has delivered materials or services.   Calculating this date, as we previously wrote, can invovle more than expected:

In many states (if not most states), labor and/or materials necessary to perform remedial, punch list items, or warranty obligations are generally not considered in establishing the completion date or the last date of providing work. Contractors and suppliers, therefore, can theoretically have the lien period begin days, weeks or months before they are off the job.

So, what is the “trigger date?”  The trigger date is the date that starts or triggers the lien period.   In most cases, as discussed in this post and the prior post, the start date for a lien period is the date materials and/or labor were last delivered to a job, or the substantial completion of a job.

After you add a project to our Lien Pilot, the “Date Management” section of the page will ask you to input the trigger dates that are important to your construction project.   A screenshot of this portion of the page is displayed to the left.

To calculate your lien deadline for this particular project, you would add the date you last delivered labor or materials.    The system will calculate the appropriate number of days from that trigger date and determine the deadline to file your lien.

But be careful.   As discussed, figuring out this particular date can be tricky in many states.     You’ll want to be extra cautious in determining this date, and to be safe, file your lien with some time to spare.

Of course, to determine the beginning date for your lien period, its best to consult with an attorney.   Lawyers in your state will be familiar with the case law that evaluates that state’s statutes and makes determinations as to what does and what does not constitute the start and end of a lien period.

Use Express Lien To Stay Organized in 2010

Thanks to our friends over at Wolfe Law Group’s Construction Law Monitor for their blog post yesterday recommending the Express Lien Lien Pilot to contractors looking to get organized in the new year.   Organization: A Secret to Managing Legal Messes discussed how good organization tools (and specifically web-based tools) can help contractors and others in the legal industry to avoid legal disputes and expensive legal bills.

In discussing how organization can help an organization with its legal obligations, the post says:

And insofar as your contractual and legal duties are concerned, if you’re organized and know what they are, you’ll have a much better chance of fulfilling them.

This is exactly what the Lien Pilot can do for your business.

Notice and lien requirements are hyper-technical and confusing.  If your company is handling multiple construction projects, or working in multiple states, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of notice and lien requirements.    Some clients reported that they used to keep track of lien and notice deadlines by inputted all due dates in Outlook – which, of course, required them to manually calculate the dates.

Express Lien provides contractors with an easier way.  You simply input your project’s details, and Express Lien calculates all of the project’s notice and lien requirements and deadlines.

In 2010, make a resolution to increase your bottom line and utilize the nation’s lien laws to protect your right to payment on construction projects.   Resolute your company to Lien Smarter in the new year, and sign up for a free account with Express Lien.