Florida's Construction Lien Law (Jacksonville: insurance, house, buy)

[cricketfan]

I recently had some work done on my property and promptly paid the contractor in full after which I received in the mail a certified letter from one of the contractor's suppliers. Note that the job had been completed and the contractor got his money before this notice came.

"FLORIDA'S CONSTRUCTION LIEN LAW ALLOWS SOME UNPAID MATERIAL SUPPLIERS TO FILE LIENS AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY EVEN IF YOU HAVE MADE PAYMENT IN FULL. UNDER FLORIDA LAW, YOUR FAILURE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PAID MAY RESULT IN A LIEN AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY AND YOUR PAYING TWICE. TO AVOID A LIEN AND PAYING TWICE, YOU MUST OBTAIN A WRITTEN RELEASE FROM US EVERY TIME YOU PAY YOUR CONTRACTOR".

I am sharing this with those who may not be aware that there is such a law. If your contractor fails to pay subcontractors or material suppliers the people who the contractor owes may look to you for payment even if you already paid for the job. Problem is not only do you have to pay your contractor but you have to make sure that your contractor's subcontractors get paid as well whether or not you know who they are. Caveat emptor!

[mawipafl]

I couldn't believe this was true, but it is. Thanks cricketfan for the heads up!

The following explains the lien law to some extent (Florida's Construction Lien Law is anything but simple) and what a property owner can do ahead of time to protect himself.
http://www.myflorida.com/dbpr/pro/el...a_lien_law.pdf

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I went in to Lowes and purchased a ceiling fan for my daughters room. I set up a Lowes contracted installer to come to my house to install said ceiling fan.

He signed a contract/paperwork thingy that explained this and he by signing it released his right to put a lien on my property. This was eye opening to me.

This is my first house. I know how to decorate the interior but there is so much about homeowner ship that I know nothing about. I am worried because I need to have my house painted in the next few years, I need to have something fixed on the roof and the ceiling of my lanai.

SO when I contract someone to do these services, do I have to ask the contractor for proof he paid his suppliers before I pay the contractor? Is that how it goes? In the case of the ceiling fan because I paid for the ceiling fan before hand, that couldn't become a problem unless MORE supplies were required to install it?

What about when I paint the house, if I buy the paint myself that would be better right? The guys I know around here use Sherwin Williams and I don't want their brand. I would rather have a higher quality paint.

[jackaroo]

Whenever you make a payment to your general contractor, ask for an affidavit that they have paid their subs.

[amy_sk]

cricketfan,
thank you for posting this. i never knew about it!

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

Yes, I am VERY glad it was posted so I know better how to deal with this situation should it arise again. I assume this statement doesn't have to be notarized or have any proof attached to it??

[FLtoVA]

I also had a mechanics lien placed against my property but it was in the state of Virginia. The laws in both states are probably similar.

In my situation though, it was a sub contractor who didn't pay a supplier and the supplier placed the mechanics lien.

This always baffled me because what if the sub contractor's supplier didn't pay his supplier? Where does the chain end?

In the end, this particular sub contractor ended up paying his bill and the lien was removed but not without much distress to me as this was a lot of money.

I made the specific information of my own situation very public on another forum where it is okay to post such information. I wanted to warn others.

I urge anyone who does any type of construction on their home to learn about lien releases before starting your project and make sure you use them. This appears to be something that few people seem to know about and it could just be that some general contractors use this to their own advantage. They know if they don't pay a supplier, you will have to.

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

I went in to Lowes and purchased a ceiling fan for my daughters room. I set up a Lowes contracted installer to come to my house to install said ceiling fan.

He signed a contract/paperwork thingy that explained this and he by signing it released his right to put a lien on my property. This was eye opening to me.

This is my first house. I know how to decorate the interior but there is so much about homeowner ship that I know nothing about. I am worried because I need to have my house painted in the next few years, I need to have something fixed on the roof and the ceiling of my lanai.

SO when I contract someone to do these services, do I have to ask the contractor for proof he paid his suppliers before I pay the contractor? Is that how it goes? In the case of the ceiling fan because I paid for the ceiling fan before hand, that couldn't become a problem unless MORE supplies were required to install it?

What about when I paint the house, if I buy the paint myself that would be better right? The guys I know around here use Sherwin Williams and I don't want their brand. I would rather have a higher quality paint.

Bear in mind that a supplier or contractor has to do a few things legally to even place a lien on your home. A Subcontractor’s Notice To Owner must be served on the owner and all additional parties mentioned in the Notice of Commencement within 45 days of starting work or commencing with fabrication of custom materials, supplies, etc.

Secondly, A General Contractor’s Claim of Lien must be recorded in the County where the property is located within 90 days of the last day on the job. In addition to that, A copy of the Claim of Lien must be served on the owner and all additional parties mentioned in the Notice of Commencement within 15 days of recording.

The first step to avoiding a lien on your house is to make sure you hire a very reputable company. One way to find someone reputable is to go to NEFBA - The Northeast Florida Builders Association of Jacksonville Area Residential and Commercial Builders and the Construction Industry and when the page loads, at the top you'll see some tabs that say "Home" "NEFBA" "Community & Training" and so on.....click on the NEFBA tab, and go down to the "Member Directory/Links" part and click on that. This will take you to a page where you can search for a contractor by all different categories, maybe some you didn't even know about.

This is not foolproof, but for the most part, members of the Northeast Forida Builders Association are far more likely to have insurance, licensing, etc....bear in mind that some trades in Duval County do not require any special licensing, but only an Occupational License. So just because Painter "A" or Siding Installer "B" cannot product a State License, does not mean they are unqualifed. More important is check their status at www.sunbiz.org - Home by doing a Document Search either by company name or officer name. This will tell you how long they've been in business and if they are legally registered to conduct business in Florida. If you cannot find the company name in that database, don't be afraid to ask them why, and if they cannot show you where to find them on this website, do not use them, they are not legal! Sometimes a company operates under a slightly different name than what may actually be on their business card, but if they are legit, they will not have any problem explaining this and showing you where they are located on the sunbiz website.

Next order of business is to request insurance certificates...you want both workers comp and general liability certificates, and you need to request that your name be listed as the "certificate holder." This is a simple and standard procedure for any legitimate company, and if they act like this is a problem, again, do not use them. If you do, and they get hurt on your property, you could lose everything.

Second, whenever you pay a sub, if it is a partial payment, you get a "partial lien release" signed at the time you pay him. You can find this form here: http://floridanotice.com/condrls.doc

Now bear in mind, he can sign this form and still owe his supplier money, so you want to get a copy of a lien release from the material supplier that has your particular job listed on it. He may have paid for all the material on your house up front, so he may be able to provide a full release of lien from the material supplier before the job is actually finished.

Finally, when he is done with the job, you'll want a full release of lien from both him and the supplier, if he has not provided that yet. This form can be found here: http://floridanotice.com/statrls.doc

I know this sounds like a lot, but in the end, if you follow these steps, you're chances of having problems are greatly reduced, as well as your exposure to liablity.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

WOW, that was some awesome resources. Thank you. I bookmarked it all.

[ShakenStirred]

Your quite welcome. Feel free to contact me directly if you need help with any of this process. The better educated homeowners all, the harder it is for the low life illegal companies to do business.