We were hired directly by a public school and we went to send a preliminary notice and found out that's not possible since we're technically the GC in this situation. We just want to make sure that we're not going to miss any timelines in case getting payment becomes a problem later on.
Is there anything we should do to ensure payment?...Read More
I am a subcontractor providing manufactured casework and architectural millwork for a new veterinary hospital in Wisconsin. In August, after the architect/GC approved shop drawings, the owner requested many scope changes. We submitted the cost impact of those changes as a change order request a couple weeks later. Those changes were followed by revised shop drawings including the new scope, and those drawings were subsequently approved.
Since that time, the owner has asked several rounds of questions about the costs, but also revised their request to reduce total cost...acknowledging that their actions had cost implications. The job went into production in November, without an approved change order. At the GC's direction, we were asked to meet the schedule and that the customer was committed to the expanded scope and that they would approve the change order.
After many promises to issue the change order, we still do not have that in place. The PM recently expressed concern about whether they would even get paid, but still said he would send the change order. Now the job is nearing an end and the absence of that document prevents me from sending an invoice for the total scope.
Last week I met with the leadership of the GC and had a very friendly and professional conversation about the issue. I think they were quite concerned that their PM didn't resolve this over the last five months and said they would investigate...though stopped short of promising to resolve to proper satisfaction.
The real question is whether or not I can use the process leading up to a Mechanic's Lien? There isn't an actual contractual obligation to pay me without the change order. So can I use a Demand for Payment letter? And can that be followed by a Notice of Intent to file a lien, with the Mechanic's lien to follow if necessary? If not, what other tools do I have for remedy if the owner continues to stonewall the GC?...Read More
We are a subcontractor on a hotel project in WI. We have not been paid on our last two months of work but did not file a preliminary notice at the start of the project. Is there anyway to still file a lien?
Thanks,
Amy ...Read More
Hi - I am an owner of land in WI and expect to soon contract with a GC to build a custom home. Any advice particular to our situation in Vilas County WI would be appreciated. Thanks....Read More
I am a carpentry subcontractor that has a subcontract with a General Contractor on a commercial office build out. We do not file preliminary notices, however we did file an intent to file a lien within the time frame. Is it OK to file a lien or because we we did not file a preliminary notice that it will not be valid? We are not talking a huge dollar amount. Contract was for $19,291 and the amount remaining to be paid is $6,578.50....Read More
In Wisconsin, would delivering blueprints count as first delivery of materials? Are you able to send the prelim before you actually supply materials in Wisconsin?...Read More
If a pre-lien is sent to the home owner via certified mail and USPS lost it, is the pre-lien still valid in the state of Wisconsin? How should you proceed?...Read More
we didn't prelien the contractor because he owned the house at the time and after we did the work for him, he sold the house and he never paid us. Can we lien the homeowner? Is it possible their title insurance would cover payment to us?...Read More
I am a small roofing & waterproofing subcontractor. A MN based contractor hired my company for services on a public project (rest stop owned by WISDOT). The state did not require a bond on this job. The contractor had failed to meet manufacturer warranty requirements and we are the company who handles warranty issues for MN and surrounding states. The inspector marked the defects that needed to be fixed to spec before the warranty could be issued, but did not supply how many (each/lf/sf). We sent an estimate to give pricing for each type of service. It stated that this was not a complete estimate and the final bill would reflect that. The owner was onsite and was aware of the scope of the project. They didn't pay the bill upon completion as required. It took 3 months to get the check and it was only for the amount of the estimate. We have never had non-payment from a client and didn't realize that we had POSSIBLY missed deadlines for the preliminary notice. I did send the intent to lien notice as required. When I read up on liens in WI I was under the impression that in this instance I wasn't required to file the preliminary notice. The notice of intent was sent within the required time frame and I have 10 days to file/send the actual Lien. However, I have also been warned that if I file the lien without having met all the requirements then I open myself up to litigation which I do not want to do. I need to be sure I can file this lien or what recourse is available to me if that is not possible....Read More
I was hired by the owner of a property. We provided excavation, grading and some materials for a small subdivision. I have a "NOTICE OF LIEN RIGHTS" paragraph in my contract.
We started the project in April of 2019, last worked on it 12/23/19. Do I now send intent?...Read More
We did not file the preliminary notice as the GM on a residential home- the main supplier did. The homeowner refuses to pay the final payment on the GC fee. We did file an intent to lien but have we lost our right to collect because of the Preliminary notice?...Read More
We had provided the first materials of this project on 9/13/2019 and were promptly paid 30 days after. I did not send a preliminary notice as an oversight since we were being paid. Then in November, on the 27th, we shipped the balance of the job. Now we are having a dispute over this payment. It isn't technically late, but they are claiming backcharges on us for things that we did not do. Point is, I didn't send a Preliminary Notice and now I would like to begin with the lien process. Is there anything we can do about this? I feel we could change the first delivered date for this portion to the 27th of November and just send a Prelim Notice based on that dollar amount and then immediately after send a Notice of Intent to Lien as is our intention at this point. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks....Read More
It was a commercial site and after things were getting “messy”, the property owner’s construction manager took over as General Contractor in which I worked along side. Is my preliminary notice required? Is this clause stating I am not required if it is a commercial site and if I worked under the property owner’s company?
779.02. Notice required to preserve lien rights; exceptions; saving clause; obligations of contractors
(1) Exceptions to notice requirement. The notice required to be given by lien claimants under sub. (2) shall not be required to be given in the following cases only:
(a) By any laborer or mechanic employed by any prime contractor or subcontractor.
(b) By any lien claimant who has contracted directly with the owner for the labor, services, materials, plans, or specifications performed, furnished, or procured, unless the claimant is a prime contractor subject to the notice requirement of sub. (2)(a).
(c) By any lien claimant performing, furnishing, or procuring labor , services, materials, plans, or specifications for an improvement in any case where more than 4 family living units are to be provided or added by such work of improvement, if the improvement is wholly residential in character, or in any case where the improvement is partly or wholly nonresidential in character.
(d) By any prime contractor who is personally an owner of the land to be improved, by any corporate prime contractor of which an owner of the land is an officer or controlling shareholder, by any prime contractor who is an officer or controlling shareholder of a corporation which is an owner of the land or by any corporate prime contractor managed or controlled by substantially the same persons who manage or control a corporation which is an owner of the land.
(e) By any lien claimant, other than a prime contractor, who performs, furnishes, or procures labor , services, materials, plans, or specifications for an improvement on a project on which the prime contractor is not required to give notice under this section. ...Read More
We signed the agreement with the homeowner to do the job on 09/08/2018. The work did not start until 05/23/2019 and we finished 6/3/19. We send a Notice of Intent to File A Lien, and now we want to File a Lien, as still did not received the payment. We did not sent the Notice of Lien Rights, as we were not aware we have to. We are General contractor, and we already paid all subcontractors and the supplier for material used for this job. This is a residential, one family building.
Can we still file for a Lien? Is the Lien enforceable?...Read More