Sometimes county clerks record anything that comes before them, while others have strict filing procedures that must be met to ensure filing. If these strict, and sometimes arbitrary, filing procedures or requirements are not met, clerks have been known to reject documents. It may be useful to picture the clerk’s procedures as a puzzle, and [...]
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Notices and Mechanics Liens: You Need to be Specific
I was reading an article recently about how a mistake in a single line of code cost Microsoft over $700 million. That’s a really big penalty for a relatively small oversight. It got me thinking, however, that a similar risk is undertaken every day by folks in the construction industry. As we like to point [...]
Form Changes to North Carolina Claim of Lien on Real Property
We recently posted about the changes set to occur to North Carolina lien law, and first looked at the new requirement that Claims of Lien on Real Property be served on the property owner (and general contractor) as well as being filed. This brief look at another change to North Carolina requirements is related to [...]
Missouri Mechanics Lien “Just And True Account” Requirement Explained By Appeals Court
Missouri’s Construction Lien Law, like the lien laws in every state, specifically sets forth what must be included within a filed mechanics lien statement to have effect. One unique requirement within the Missouri statutes is the need for a “just and true account” of the claimed amount. What does this “just and true account” mean? [...]
Beware of Bad Information On A Construction Project – It Kills Mechanics Lien Rights
A massive problem with mechanics lien laws in every state is that to comply with them, a claimant must know information that is not public knowledge and that is sometimes hard to acquire. If you get the information wrong, you could lose your lien rights. Examples of Information You Can Get Wrong That Matters To [...]
Describing Property In A Colorado Mechanics Lien More Complicated After Recent Supreme Court Case
Filing a mechanics lien means you’re placing an encumbrance against a specific piece of property. That encumbrance is recorded in a county’s property records, and so it is fundamental that the document presenting that encumbrance specifically and completely identify the property at issue. How is that done? Every state has different rules on what does [...]
Alaska Mechanics Lien Must Include Legal Property Description – Usually
Whenever filing a mechanics lien, it’s critical to properly identify the property being encumbered. It is this description, after all, that controls which property is being listed with the lien. More importantly perhaps, each state’s mechanics lien laws have strict requirements as to what does and does not constitute proper identification of land. If you [...]
Louisiana Mechanic Liens Do Not Require Notarization
Every state’s mechanics lien form and filing requirements are different, and one simple requirement you want to be clear about whenever filing a lien is whether the lien statement must be notarized, or not. The saga of whether the Louisiana mechanics lien must be notarized is a rather interesting one. Private Louisiana Mechanics Liens Do [...]
Is a Legal Property Description Required for an Arizona Mechanics Lien?
In order for a mechanics lien to be valid, the property that is to be lined must be identified. How that property must be identified can vary between states. Some states require a legal description of the property, while other states allow for some lesser description such as a street address, or other description reasonably [...]
Huge Washington Mechanic Lien Case Accepted by Supreme Court for Review
The appellate court decision in Williams v. Athletic Field, Inc. was the shot heard around the world for construction lawyers and the construction industry in Washington state. The court – three years after first deciding the case – revisited the decision and reversed itself, holding that the language acknowledging the lien claimant’s signature that is [...]
What Costs Can I Include in a Mechanics Lien?
I practice law, and focus on construction law, in the states of Washington, Oregon and Louisiana. Whenever folks are looking to put together a mechanics lien, this is a question that is very frequently asked. (Previously wrote about it here). While the question seems quite simple, it’s actually a bit complicated. And it’s [...]
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Scott Wolfe Jr., JD
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