Protecting Payment Series

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This series focuses on the means and methods businesses in the construction industry use to protect their right to payment. We touch on issues of  contracts, collections, construction liens and the corresponding interests of the developers and property owners who build.  Although the author is writing from Minnesota, the series will focus on a broader application allowing readers anywhere in the country to benefit.

Clouds are gathering now on the payment horizon for the construction industry.  The clouds converging now and into the fall call for even greater attention to protecting construction industry receivables. This applies to the industry from top to bottom.  Construction was an “essential business” allowed to continue operating in Minnesota. That designation allowed work to…

Sometimes construction material or equipment the contractor buys turns out to be defective.  It leaks. A part is missing.  Something simply does not function straight from the box.  Jumping on the defect claim may not seem to have highest priority in the middle of a construction project.  “Back charge” may the automatic response, but it…

In each state, statutes govern the right to a construction lien.  It is almost inevitable that someone, someday, will not meet a required step.  The lien is lost, and with it, whatever leverage or payment security it represented.

There is still a balance to collect—unless the creditor has improvidently signed something that also waives the…

This continues our blog post series on protecting payment in the construction industry. In this post, we ask the question, “Can a Pay If Paid clause bar a Minnesota lien or bond claim?” Despite the contract language, the answer might be: no.

Contingent payment language is common in contracts between prime contractors and subcontractors. The…

Lien waivers do not get the respect they deserve in the realm of protecting the rights to payment in construction. In a prior post in this series we shifted the focus to the owner’s perspective on the problems of liens and payment including the need for collecting lien waivers. Lien waivers are important to both…

This is the fourth in a series of posts addressing the protection of the right to payment in the construction industry using construction lien rights as a tool.   Prior posts reviewed the information and analysis needed to identify available lien protections and the early notices many states require. This post highlights the fact that things…