Construction liens can protect a contractor’s (or subcontractor’s) right to be paid for labor and material provided on a job site. If you don’t take steps to properly file Olympia, WA construction liens, you may lose your ability to enforce payment on any unpaid claims. Construction liens are complex and must be properly filed, or they might not be enforceable.
Here are some of the most common mistakes that construction industry professionals make when filing construction liens.
- Right to lien
Make sure that you can legally file a lien. For example, are you really a subcontractor? Do you have the right to file a lien because of the material or labor that you provided? You may not be able to successfully enforce payment on your unpaid claims if the property owner can show that you did not have the necessary right to collect.
- Failing to file the lien on time
In order to enforce a lien, the construction provider must file the lien with the court in a timely manner. Failure to properly file or filing late (within 30 days of receiving written notice), can result in your rights to enforce payment being voided.
- Missing important details
If the person receiving the notice of lien has not signed a waiver of the right to have an attorney review the filing, you may be missing an important step. Construction liens are complex. It’s important to know if you need an attorney or not. You might not catch your mistake if you do not ask for legal assistance and review your filings with a knowledgeable construction lien attorney.
- Listing the wrong owner
The name of the owner who must pay your unpaid claims may be different from the name listed in the job contract. If the property owner is a partnership or LLC, you might want to list the names of all managing partners or LLC members. It’s not enough to just list the name of a company. So, make sure you include all relevant parties.
- Exaggerating the amounts owed
You may not be able to legitimately enforce your lien if you do not include amounts owed that are normal for the type of construction project and are less than the amount demanded in your notice. Your notice must accurately reflect job costs and any amounts owed to you by the property owner.
