Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>When we receive multiple preliminary notices from a specific vendor on the same job, should those totals be added together or is the most recent notice the only amount the claimant is claiming?
When we receive multiple preliminary notices from a specific vendor on the same job, should those totals be added together or is the most recent notice the only amount the claimant is claiming?
When we receive multiple preliminary notices from a specific vendor on the same job, should those totals be added together or is the most recent notice the only amount the claimant is claiming?
1 reply
Aug 6, 2019
Good question. First, as you likely know, receiving Arizona preliminary notice isn't an indication of a particular claim or that there's any issue on the project - rather, these notices are sent as informative notices which also spur communication on the project. Of course, the notices are also sent so that, if worse comes to worst, a claim ultimately could be made. And, it may be valuable to track what claims could be made in a worst case scenario. Plus, it's certainly a good idea to gain a full understanding of what the notice-sender is owed on the job to ensure their customer will be able to fulfill of its obligations.
With that in mind - it can be hard to distinguish whether someone is sending an amended (or "revised") preliminary notice (based on Arizona's 20% notice rule), or whether they're sending an entirely new notice that represents a separate and additional amount owed. Generally, an amended preliminary notice will indicate in some way that it's a revised version of a notice sent earlier. But, that might not always be the case.
If it's unclear from the face of the notice, it may be helpful to confirm with the party who sent notice. After all, the notice provides helpful information for getting in contact with them. By giving the notice-sender a call or shooting them an email, it can be easy to quickly clear up any confusion about notice amounts. Plus, the notice-sender has to include their customer's contact information on the notice too. So, it's easy to verify any information with that notice-sender's customer.
I hope this information was helpful! Please feel free to come back with any clarifying questions you may have!