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I am a property manager and i supplied services to an apt owner. The owner now owes me money and is refusing to pay.

Michigan

Does the statute for mechanics liens in Michigan define supplier as a supplier of goods, or can a supplier of services qualify for this also?

1 reply

Dec 31, 2019
Michigan's Construction Lien Act offers protection for persons who furnish both labor and/or materials used to improve real property. To answer your question more precisely, we need to consider how these terms are defined. Section 107 of the Michigan Construction Lien Act provides in relevant part that “Each contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or laborer who provides an improvement to real property shall have a construction lien upon the interest of the owner or lessee who contracted for the improvement to the real property . . .” MCL 570.1107(1)
  • A Contractor is a “person who, pursuant to a contract with the owner or lessee of real property, provides an improvement to real property.” MCL 570.1103(5)
  • Supplier means “a person who, pursuant to a contract with a contractor or a subcontractor, leases, rents, or in any other manner provides material or equipment which is used in the improvement of real property.” MCL 570.1106(5)
  • An "improvement" means "the result of labor or material provided by a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or laborer, including, but not limited to, surveying, engineering and architectural planning, construction management, clearing, demolishing, excavating, filling, building, erecting, constructing, altering, repairing, ornamenting, landscaping, paving, leasing equipment, or installing or affixing a fixture or material, pursuant to a contract." 
In answer to your question, a property manager probably qualifies as a contractor under the Michigan Construction Lien Act, but the question would be whether or not the labor, materials and/or equipment you're furnishing qualifies as an "improvement" to the property. Depending on what services you provided, it might qualify as "repairing" within the definition of "improvement". I hope this answer helps clarify things or points you in the right direction.
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