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Am I able to go after a contractor's payment bond in addition to filing a lien?

We placed a lien on a project, and now the contractor has sent out a copy of their payment bond that they had to procure when they were contracted to do the job. This is not a lien bond. Can I also put a claim in to surety company for our owed monies even though I already placed a lien on the project? If so, how do I go about that?

1 reply

Sep 11, 2020

Yes, you should be able to pursue both a lien claim and a payment bond claim. For the filing of the payment bond claim, you will need to get a copy of the payment bond as it will include procedures and timing requirements on how to file the claim. If you do not have a copy, you could write to the bonding company (and copy the contractor and owner), notify the bonding company of the amount of your claim, and also request a copy of the payment bond itself. After that, the bonding company will likely ask you to fill out a Proof of Claim form giving the details of your claim. If they do not pay, you will have a right to sue, but the bond itself likely gives the Bonding Company some time to evaluate your claim before you can file suit. In any lawsuit you do file, ultimately will likely have to bring the lien foreclosure action, payment bond claim action, and breach of contract action all in one single lawsuit. You should review the timing of when you need to file any lien foreclosure suit, submit any payment bond claim, and timing of when you could sue on the payment bond claim if it is rejected.

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