I’ve discussed the intersection of bankruptcy and mechanics liens several times here on the Lien Blog, both in general terms and through specific court decisions. These discussions have caused me to believe strongly that, in terms of construction projects, the mechanics lien is the best way to get paid in the face of a party’s [...]
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Bankruptcy vs. Mechanics Liens: North Carolina Gets It Right
Last year about this time, I posted a series of articles briefly examining the interplay between mechanics lien law and bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is all too common in the construction industry, as that industry faces some of the highest failure rates in the nation. This means that securing the debt owed for the extension of labor and/or [...]
North Carolina and the Bankruptcy “Fix”
The lien blog is currently briefly examining the upcoming changes to North Carolina lien law. Previous installments can be found here, here, and here. This post notes the “new” clarification of when a lien upon funds attaches, for bankruptcy purposes. This revision is interesting because it doesn’t actually revise anything. There has been no real substantive change. North [...]
Nevada Supreme Court Lien Priority Decision Costs Lenders $100 Million
Earlier this year we wrote about a Lien Priority dipute brewing in Nevada with high stakes for the parties. That post, Nevada Supreme Court Asked To Weigh In On High Stakes Lien Priority Dispute, discussed a battle between lien claimants and lenders about who had a better claim to $100 million dollars in a bankruptcy [...]
Mechanics Lien Importance Highlighted By Contractor Failure Rates
Hat tip to Mark Paskell of the Contractor Coaching Partnership blog for digging up a recent article from Small Business Trends reporting on the failure rates of construction businesses after a five year period. The article highlights a statistic that should strike fear into the hearts of credit managers at construction or supply companies across the [...]
Joint Check Agreements And Bankruptcies
Bankruptcy is a significant credit and collections challenge in the construction industry. We all fear it. A customer filing for bankruptcy protection translates into attorney fees, payment delay and non-collectable debts. How do credit departments prepare for and respond to these bankruptcy situations? A few months ago, we ran a Bankruptcy Blog Series. These posts [...]
North Carolina “Fixes” Bankruptcy Confusion Regarding Liens
We are currently taking a brief look at the upcoming changes to North Carolina lien law. Previous installments can be found here, here, and here. This edition relates to the new clarification of when a lien upon funds attaches, for bankruptcy purposes. This revision is interesting because it doesn’t actually revise anything. There has been [...]
Not Sending Preliminary Notices Is A Mistake That Can Murder Your Business By Tomorrow Afternoon
People usually don’t think much of preliminary notices. In some cases, they’re irrationally scared of sending them. In other cases, they simply don’t know they exist or fully understand them. In the construction world, however, preliminary notices are critically important and can be the difference between staying in business or shutting down shop. To explain [...]
Less Bankruptcies Means More Room For Mechanics Lien Claimants in New Orleans
Things looking up in the New Orleans economy? Perhaps, according to a report from the New Orleans City Business Newsroom that the New Orleans area saw a near 10% drop in bankruptcy filings in April 2012. A few weeks ago, we ran a blog series here at the Construction Lien Blog about the relationship between [...]
Mechanics Lien Gets Kansas City Contractors Paid In Face Of Bankruptcy
A few weeks ago, Zlien Chief Legal Officer Nate Budde wrote a blog series on the relationship between bankruptcy and the mechanics lien. The last post of the series summarized “Why Mechanics Lien Claims Help You Get Paid In The Face Of Bankruptcy.” In large part, this article addresses why having a mechanics lien [...]
Why Mechanics Lien Claims Help You Get Paid In Face of Bankruptcy
The last few posts studying the interplay between mechanics liens and bankruptcy examined some interesting procedural aspects, but really, all the information boils down to how it relates to one question: Will I Get Paid? Since mechanics liens have a rare ability to be perfected after the automatic stay, and can emerge unscathed and in [...]
Columnists
Scott Wolfe Jr., JD
CEO of Zlien, and a licensed attorney in six states, he's experienced in construction & corporate credit management laws....Read More
Nate Budde, JD
Zlien's Chief Legal Mind and licensed attorney. Nate is a Stanford & Tulane Grad, a Jeopardy! alumni and more....Read More
Seth Smiley, JD
Construction attorney in California & Louisiana, Seth is an experienced construction litigator and Zlien's COO....Read More
Funding Gates
The world's first CRM for receivables management.Read More
Gretchen Lynn
Operations Genius at Zlien - She writes all the fun stuff here.Read More
Jason Bull
Zlien's Research Giant - He shares tips and info on how to confirm project, surety or construction party data.Read More
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