Matthew Lakind's practice focuses on construction law including construction defect litigation, Consumer Fraud Act claims, equitable adjustment/delay claims, insurance issues related to construction, construction lien law, public bid protests, professional malpractice claims involving design professionals, and negligence/tort claims arising out of construction projects. Mr. Lakind also drafts and negotiates contracts for a wide array of construction projects, including large public and commercial projects, solar power installations under Master Service Agreements, and residential contracts. More...More...
Material suppliers do have lien rights under New Jersey Law. A supplier must have a contract with subcontractor, the contractor, or the owner to qualify. Essentially you need to be within the contractual chain. In your case, it sounds as if the contractor who purchased the material may be the owner of the property, or it may be in contract with the owner. Under those scenarios you would qualify. Since this is a residential project that you supplied matSee More...See More...
One option is to have the payment deposited to an attorney trust account if either of you have an attorney that would agree to do that. When an Owner makes payment, the lien has been “satisfied” and can then be discharged. But before the payment is made, the lien is not considered satisfied.See More...
Unfortunately you cannot file a residential mechanic’s lien if more than 60 days have passed since your last date of work. Your right to file a breach of contract claim/lawsuit against the GC remains. Also, depending on the nature of the homeowner’s promise to pay you directly, you may have a direct claim against the homeowner beyond the expired lien rights. However, more information would be needed on that issue to make a full determination.See More...
Unfortunately, you may be out of time to file the lien. Typically a lien must be filed 90 days from the last day of work on a commercial project. The clerks offices have been filing liens as they come in. While there is some delay in the clerk's office in terms of getting them filed when they come in, it is likely that a court would rule that you would’ve had to at least send the lien to the clerk for filing within the 90 days. With that said, you still have your rights to See More...See More...
Typically unsigned change orders cannot be included in a lien. You may have lien rights, and also rights against any payment bond that may exist, in addition to your breach of contract claims against the GC. More information is needed to fully assess the best options, however. This includes whether the project is public or private, what your last date of work was, and what your contract says about withholding of payments, among other items.See More...