Every business owner who has supplied materials or a person who provided labor for a construction job can claim liens against the property. The states differ, and there are limits to the claim on particular buildings and structures, but most can permit the filing of a lien document.
The document shows that the parties who filed the lien can assert their claim on a property, and the owners are notified with this. Many states can differ from their rules, deadlines, and methods with regards to this. You can check the link for Kansas mechanic’s lien to know more about requirements, notices, and a lot of other things that you need to do before you can make a claim. These statues are put in place to prevent surprises for both parties.
The parties who are very much interested in the laws of construction in their state should consult their statutes directly.
Who Has the Right to File a Lien?
Someone who has the right is a person who has performed labor upon the owner’s consent to make replacements or repairs in a house or commercial building. The property where they might have done the work is not limited to buildings and homes, they might be able to improve trucks, aircraft, cars, wagons, horses, chattels, and more.
What is the Deadline in Filing?
A person who wishes to file must submit the documents within four months of the last day that he provided the material or performed work. The statement should subsequently be filed, and this will serve as a copy of the owner within three months of furnishing the materials or doing the work.
How Long is the Claim Good For?
For many subcontractors, they have a year after filing to foreclose on a lien. Know more about foreclosures in this link here. They must take action, or everything will be forfeited.
The Mechanic’s Lien Should be Done Right the First Time
Most vendors and laborers will find relief and protection from the mechanic’s lien. They can protect themselves from the danger of not getting paid from their hard labor and capital. But if the filing and the requirements were not properly filed, then these people can lose this protection.
In Kansas, the lien’s claimant should have a formal contract with the owner of the property. The lien will consider the equipment, furnished supplies, transportation costs, and the amount of labor done to enhance a property’s condition. Another complicated thing about Kansas’ laws is that the claimant should always comply with the law provisions for their claims to be considered valid.
A valid lien statement should include the following four items. They are the following:
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Full name of the real estate or property owner.
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Address and the name of the claimant.
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Description of the property, which is not just the address but also a series of statements describing the house, which can be commonly found on a deed.
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Reasonable and itemized statements that included the total amount of the claims. In many cases, the reasonable itemized statement term has become subjective, and it gave owners the chance to ask for litigation.
Examples of Cases
In other cases, the court has examined the word reasonable, which pertain to the lien’s statute. The examination resulted in another definition that the word reasonable means that it is not insufficient or excessive. It does not go into the extreme side of things considering a well-balanced statement. This will enable the landowners to see that the work was completed and whether the prices or the charges are fair.
There’s an issue that arose again regarding the word reasonable. There was a case when the lien claimant photocopied the invoices for the materials that he supplied. The landowners argued that the photocopied invoices were poor in quality. It prevented them from ascertaining whether the materials have been provided for the job, and the charged amount was fair.
The court was able to admit that the descriptions and the invoices were indeed of low quality. But the statements are deemed sufficient enough because the project has used the materials, and the total and prices of each item can be read clearly.
Most of the time, attaching invoices on top of the contract and the lien document can be sufficient. However, the agreement alone with the landowner will be insufficient, particularly if no one can determine how the claimant came up with a specific amount.
A reasonably itemized statement may benefit most landowners, but the other stakeholders or the contractors can challenge the statement’s sufficiency. Other people who are competing with the same lien will be able to challenge the adequacy of the receipts and the other itemized invoices.
There are also situations where the claimants argue that the other two creditors holding a mortgage on a specific property can’t challenge the itemized statements’ sufficiency. This happens when the landowner himself will admit that the itemized statement is sufficient enough.
However, the judge rejected this argument saying that the competing lienholders with both interests in the property can question the validity of a statement regardless of who’s the first to file or the priority of the stakeholder. Read more about these priorities here: https://pocketsense.com/do-liens-priority-first-mortgages-8405076.html.
All rights and claims under the statute of a Kansas lien can be assignable. The place where the statement was recorded and filed should also be where the assignment should be made. The assignment can be done in writing, and it should be attached to the original document.