Protecting the right to get paid is central to any business and the construction industry is no exception. The Protecting Payment Series on the Larkin Hoffman Real Estate and Construction Blog focuses on the means and methods businesses in the construction industry use to protect their right to payment. It touches on issues of contracts,
Protecting Payment Series
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.
Lien Priority in Receivership?
For mechanic lien claimants having “priority” is a charmed state. Priority refers to the ordering of claims against a piece of real estate. Claims with first priority get paid first from the proceeds of a sale or foreclosure. Being “junior” can mean no payday at all.
Minnesota, like most states, has its own rules for…
Clouds Gathering on the Payment Horizon
There are clouds gathering now on the payment horizon for the construction industry. The clouds converging now and on 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…
Construction Material Suppliers in the COVID-19 World: Uniform Commercial Code 2-615
This is the third part in this series. Part Two of this series discussed purchase order contracts for materials which may have a force majeure clause of some description (including possibly in online terms). Where there is no explicit force majeure clause, suppliers should look to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) which provides an integrated…
Warranty? What warranty?
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…
What Happens If You Don’t Have A Lien?
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…
Can a “Pay If Paid” Clause Bar Lien and Bond Claims in Minnesota?
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…
What Surprises Lurk In That Certificate of Insurance?
This is a relevant concern not only for any project owner or developer that requires a certificate of insurance from the prime contractor. Certificates of insurance are used so commonly as proof of insurance that they may tend to be a “check the box” item that just goes into the project file without a careful…
Slow Paying Customers Can Bring a Contractor Down
This is the eighth in our series of posts on protecting the right to payment in the construction industry. I have recently seen a couple of blog posts highlighting a survey from late summer (Rabbet Partners and Procore; 2019 Construction Payments Report). The survey reported that the direct and indirect costs of slow payment to…
The Importance of Lien Waivers
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…