Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>I am owed almost $200K on a project. I am a sub of a subcontractor. The contractor that I am working for has a bond on the project but I don't have the surety info. Can I still file a bond claim?

I am owed almost $200K on a project. I am a sub of a subcontractor. The contractor that I am working for has a bond on the project but I don't have the surety info. Can I still file a bond claim?

New YorkBond Claims

I am a pipe fitting contractor performing work in NYC . The project I have the question about is an ambulatory surgical facility and it is being bank financed by a group of doctors. I am a sub of a subcontractor and the contractor I am working for has a bond on the project. I have payments passed due from July and August and continued to work on the project up until last week. The contractor I am working for claims he has not been paid also and therefore cannot pay us.

1 reply

Oct 2, 2018

Generally, the rules and requirements for making a payment bond claim against a bond obtained for a private project are set out by the bond itself. This usually involves notifying the both the party who obtained the bond, and the surety. Since one of the main purposes of obtaining a payment bond is to keep a project free from mechanics liens, a request for the bond information should be provided.

It's always a good idea to face payment issues and other project frustrations head-on through open and direct communication. Reaching out to the hiring party, the GC, or the property owner with information related to your issue may provide a way to reach a resolution - or, at the very least - get you the information you need. In the event that a request to be provided the payment bond information, if any (there could be a performance bond obtained by the owner to protect against non-performance by the contractor), is unsuccessful, a notice of intent to lien or even the filing of a mechanics lien itself would likely produce the desired information, since the interested parties would want to avoid the lien.

Additionally, if the project is actually a public project (for which a bond is required) New York only specifically requires the general contractor to receive the bond claim, despite it being advisable to send notice of the bond claim to the surety, as well.

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