I'm a contractor and I am currently doing a project with a client and I feel like she may not pay me. How do I implement something saying if I don't receive payment in full there will be a lien
1 reply
May 17, 2022
Hi Patrick,
It all starts with your state's lien laws. Do they require or provide for a preliminary notice? If so, send it "early and often!" If not, have a simple conversation about it. Ask when payments will be made and let them know that your company does protect its lien rights. I usually like to add that we don't like to file liens, but they are our only security. This way, the client is deciding whether or not their project will be liened.
Be sure to review and modify any lien waivers they have you sign, as well as, the pay applications. So many of them contain language that waives your lien rights beyond the amount that they have actually paid you.