Posts Tagged ‘New York’

Crossing the Bridge When You Get There: Why New York Builders Should No Longer Worry About Losing Retainage Lien Rights

On September 2, 2011        

As a contractor or subcontractor, it is of the utmost importance to pay very close attention to the text of mechanic’s lien laws of your state, which often require you to follow certain formalities and send certain notices in order to protect your rights and receive payments due on certain projects.  And it is no surprise that mechanic’s lien laws vary, sometimes significantly, state by state.  We have summaries of each state’s lien laws available on the Zlien website.

Listen up New York State, on July 22, 2011, the Governor of New York State amended its lien laws.

Luckily, this amendment is in favor of workers in the construction industry. As noted on the New York Mechanic’s Lien Blog, the new bill allows folks in the construction industry to breathe a little easier when it comes to liens for retainage (money earned by a contractor but not meant to be paid until the completion of the project or until some other date that is mutually agreed upon).

New York State’s Lien Law Section 10’s new provision (read full text) allows liens relative to retainage to be filed at any time within ninety (90) days after the retainage payment is actually due.  Previously, liens were due 90 days after last furnishing labor and/or materials, meaning claimants were required to lien for retainage before it ever became due.

This amendment is great news for New York contractors and subs because it expands the time they have to file a lien for retainage, if necessary. New York contractors and subs can file a mechanics lien for its retainage long after they actually finish work, so long as the retainage is just recently due.

The extra 90 days will likely have positive effects, as the previous law just didn’t make practical sense. The focus of a construction project should be doing the job, doing the job right, and worrying about the retainage payment only when the time is right. New York’s Governor, in signing this bill, clearly agrees with the philosophy of crossing the bridge once you get there.

 

Posted in:     Lien Law Alerts  /  Tags: ,   /   Leave a comment

My Favorite Resource on New York Mechanic Lien Laws

On March 19, 2011        

People frequently ask me where I find the information to keep this blog. Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer. Mechanic lien law changes are proposed and put into effect around the country pretty constantly, and lien cases get decided by courts at least once every two or three weeks. There’s no central respitoray where all these updates are posted.

Over the past five years or so, however, I’ve created a storehouse of resources I use to get information about mechanic lien laws across the country. I’ve decided to start sharing them here on the Construction Lien Blog. While many of our readers are concerned about lien laws across the nation, others really have a narrow focus and are interested in only a single state’s laws. Some of these sources may be very helpful to those readers.

I’m going to start with lien law in New York, and one of my favorite resources on the web.

If you’re looking for a great resource on mechanic lien laws in New York, look no further than Vincent Pallaci’s New York Mechanic’s Lien blog. I’ve used his blog as a reference for a number of posts about New York mechanic lien laws, but his blog contains a wealth of information about the particulars of the state’s laws that my blog never has time to consider.

Another feature of his blog helpful to folks supplying materials or labor to New York projects is the simple no-frills “Frequently Asked Question” page, which answers such basic questions of “How long do I have to file a mechanics lien?” and “what is the fee to file a mechanic’s lien?”  The FAQ Page is accessible here.

Posted in:     Mechanic Liens, The Legal Corner  /  Tags: , ,   /   Leave a comment

Is My Project Private, Federal, State…Or Something Different?

On January 19, 2011        

If you’re unpaid on a construction project and you want to file a lien, you have to figure out the project type to determine what type of lien is available to you. In most circumstances, there are three types of projects:

– Federal Projects: Construction work performed on federal property. Contractors and suppliers are unable to file a lien against the federal land. However, these parties can typically file a claim against the prime contractor’s bond under the federal Miller Act.  We have written quite a bit about the Miller Act (category: Miller Act).

– State Projects: Construction work performed on state property. Just as contractors and suppliers cannot file a lien against property owned by the federal government, most states have restrictions against filing liens against state property as well. As such, claimants can typically file a claim against the prime contractor’s bond under the state “Little Miller Act.” We have written about these proceedings as well (category: State Bond Claims).

– Private Projects: Construction work performed on property owned by a private owner (remember, this may include work on a private university or on a public corporation’s property). Here, the contractor or supplier can file a traditional mechanic lien against the property itself.

– Something Different: So, it is possible that your project doesn’t fall into any of these categories? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. While there are a number of examples, I’ll direct you to a recent blog post by Vincent Pallaci on his New York Mechanic’s Lien blog:  Caution! Working on a private project on publicly owned land may leave you without lien rights.

Vincent’s post gives one example of these “something different” types of projects. It relates to a private project on a state property in New York. While New York has lien laws for private projects on private land, and public projects on public land, there is a gap for private projects on public land.

When reviewing your lien rights, look at your project and determine what type of project it is. That’s the first step in determining whether you have the right to lien or file a bond claim…and then how to actually do it.

Posted in:     Mechanic Liens, Miller Act Claims, State Bond Claims  /  Tags: , ,   /   2 Comments

Can I File An Extension To A Mechanic’s Lien?

On December 3, 2010        

Last month, I posted an article title “How Long Will A Mechanic’s Lien Cause Havoc?  Not Very.“   The point of post was best summarized by a quote from the Refinance PA Mortgage Blog, which provided as follows:

There is a misconception that once a lien is filed or recorded against a property, it remains there indefinitely, similar to a deed or mortgage.

In other words, mechanic liens expire, and in some cases, they expire quickly.  This begs a question that folks frequently ask me:   Can I extend the lien?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question depends on the state where the lien is filed.   In some states, like Louisiana and Washington, a mechanic lien’s effectiveness cannot be extended.   In other states, like California or New  York, there are mechanisms available to extend the lien for a certain period of time.

I read a great article this week by David Barnier, a California construction attorney who published an article on Download-Construction-Forms.com.    The article – Extending Your Deadline To Sue To Enforce Your Mechanic’s Lien – discusses the remedies available to California lien claimants who are looking for more time to enforce a claim.

There’s great reason to look for this additional time, as a California lien expires after just 90 days of filing!   According to Mr. Barnier’s article, a lien claimant has two choices here:  (1) Get the owner to agree to a lien extension; or (2) Record a second lien if the recording deadline has not passed.

In other states (like New York), the process is much easier.   In New York, the lien claimant can get a one year extension on their lien by simply filing a lien extension (see summary from attorneys at levy-law.com here).

Did you know?  When you file a mechanic lien with Zlien or use our LienPilot to manage your deadlines, you’ll get a warning email before your lien expires.  This gives you time to file an extension (if its available), or to contact an attorney to foreclose on the claim.

Posted in:     Mechanic Liens  /  Tags: , , , , ,   /   1 Comment

Don’t Exaggerate Your Mechanic Lien Claim

On December 1, 2010        

Vincent Pallaci’s New York Construction Law Update blog called our attention to a recent New York Supreme Court case in New York, Remodeling Construction Services v. Minter.   The case presents a common circumstance for home builders.

On a residential construction project, a homeowner would pay their contractor over progress payments, with each draw being due at a certain project milestone.   The homeowner and contractor disagreed as to whether a particular milestone was met (and thus, whether a progress payment was due), and this caused the project to shut down.   Each party cried breach of contract.

In the Minter case, the New York Supreme Court confirmed a summary judgment decision that the contractor was not entitled to the progress payment, and thus terminated the contract prematurely.

What is interesting for those who follow mechanic lien laws, is that the homeowner also sued the contractor for a “willful exaggeration” of the lien claim.

The “willful exaggeration” claim is a New York term, but nearly every state allows a property owner to sue a contractor if the contractor willfully exaggerated their lien claim.   The key word here is “willfully,” as these types of claims very typically require proof that the claim was exaggerated with actual malicious intent.

As Pallaci mentions in his post, while the court in Minter determined that the contractor was not entitled to the last progress payment, it did not rule on summary judgment that the lien for this last progress payment was “willfully exaggerated.”   This doesn’t kill the homeowner’s claim, but it does highlight the distinction between liens that are incorrectly claimed, and those that are “willfully exaggerated.”

A lien claimant should always carefully file its lien claims.   Oftentimes, a claimant owed money will try to increase a claim out of anger.   It’s important to keep a cool head and make a claim for the amounts you’re entitled to only.

Posted in:     Mechanic Liens  /  Tags: , , , ,   /   3 Comments
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