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Customer Pick Up at Yard (no delivery date - different states)

We are a material supplier working on a private project with a sub-contractor. Most of the deadlines for notices/liens/bonds are based on Delivery Dates. We have a situation where the customer hired their own trucks to pick-up the material from the yard and deliver to the job site. The yard where the customer picked up is in Texas, however, the job-site is in Alabama. What are our lien rights and which state deadlines should we follow? Please advise. Thank you :)

1 reply

Mar 17, 2020

The mechanics lien and notice rules of the project location are the rules that apply - regardless of where the materials come from. This makes logical sense - the project property is what would be subject to lien (if one became necessary), so that state's lien laws should apply.

Preliminary notice deadlines are usually based on first furnishing

Many states' notices are based on when the materials are first furnished (i.e. delivered) to the project site. And, for most suppliers, this date can be tracked relatively easily. However, when it's hard to know when, exactly, the materials have made it to the job site - it can be hard to set up a process for notices.

Sending preliminary notices early

Generally, it's a good idea to send notices earlier than later. So, sending notice based on when the material is picked up may be an option, to some degree. Naturally, it'd be absolutely crucial to know which state the material is being delivered to since the notice requirements of the project location would apply. Still, there could be some risk in sending a notice too early in some situations - so it's not necessarily a foolproof, easy solution. However, it will almost always be better to send notice earlier rather than later.

Asking customers to provide the delivery information

Another option might be to require a customer to provide delivery info - namely, the time and date when the materials are delivered to the job site. If they can and are willing to provide that information, then that would seemingly be an easy fix.

Tracking the materials

Finally, if the supplier knows where the job site it, it shouldn't be a technological feat to track the materials to determine when, exactly, they've reached the job site. In fact, I'd bet that the parties trucking the supplies from the yard are tracking the trucks, themselves. So, asking them to share that tracking info, or tracking the materials, themselves, could be an option too.

Mechanics lien rights for material supply

Finally, material suppliers are generally entitled to mechanics lien rights, and that's not dependent on the supplier trucking their materials to the job site, themselves. Of course, when it comes time to actually pursue a lien filing, whether or not those materials are actually incorporated into the site will become pivotal. Though, in some states and situations, lien rights may be available even if the materials are simply delivered - and not necessarily used - in the improvement.

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