Liens Make Your Payment Problem the Entire Project’s Biggest Problem

When you don’t get paid on a construction project, that is a big problem for you and your company.  But, is it a big problem for the entire construction project?  Not likely.

So, how do you make your problem an important problem to the other players working on a construction job?   With a mechanic’s lien, of course.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a mega-project in Las Vegas (the $8.5 billion City Center), and a contractor dispute that is affecting the project’s finances.   There was something really interesting about this report for those of us who follow mechanic lien law and news – and that’s this quote from City Center President Bobby Baldwin, referring to over $500 million in liens filed against the project:

Obviously everybody is concerned about the liens.   They have to be explained in great detail to our residential buyers.

To resolve the concern about the liens, the property owner is slowly paying off all of the subcontractor and supplier claims while they proceed with their dispute against the prime contractor.   Without those liens, those subs and suppliers would have to wait months or years for the main dispute to resolve, and payment to trickle down from the owner to them.  Depending on the size of the contract, that’s something that could cripple their business.

The Wall Street Journal article and construction dispute at the City Center was the subject of a blog post on the Construction Law Monitor, which that blog called a “Large-Scale Example of an Everyday Construction Dispute.”   And that summary is perfectly true when it comes down to mechanics liens.

Regardless of how large or how small the project, mechanics liens creates a problem for the project.   If you’re not paid on a construction project, the best way to make your problem the construction project’s problem, is to file a mechanics lien.

Want To Solve Cash Problems?

You may be interested in the Mechanics Lien Toolkit, along with updates from our compelling blog.

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