Real Estate and Construction Law Blog
Complex construction projects carry complex problems as they approach completion. In my recent article for the Daily Journal of Commerce, I address 10 potential pitfalls that owners, contractors and design professionals may encounter, and I offer tips to help you prepare for them.
Read the full article here.
“Finishing Strong vs. Finishing Wrong:…
A question left open in Stoel Rives’ recent Washington lien law treatise relates to the lien rights of employee benefit plans. The rights granted in RCW 60.04.011(4) (where benefit plans are included in the definition of “furnishing labor”) were called into question by two Washington Supreme Court decisions barring employee benefit plans from pursuing lien-like…
In my latest Daily Journal of Commerce Construction column, I discuss the construction lien rights for architects and engineers in Washington and Oregon. In these states, once construction lien rights have arisen the law requires further acts (such as sending notices to the project owner or recording formal notices within specific time frames) to keep…
We are pleased to announce the publication of a new Stoel Rives Washington state lien law treatise. Written by construction law attorneys Karl Oles and Bart Reed, the treatise builds on two earlier works: Professor Brian A. Blum’s Mechanics’ and Construction Liens in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, and Michael F. Keyes Construction Lien…
In a case of first impression in Idaho, the Supreme Court in American Bank v. Wadsworth Golf Construction Co. of Southwest, No. 39415 (Idaho Aug. 16, 2013) (slip op.), determined that priority of lien filings on a property remain subject to a lien priority analysis even after a statutory lien release bond is filed…
Washington’s lien laws, like those of other states, set forth pre-claim notice requirements that, if not satisfied, may result in the forfeiture of lien rights. The applicable statute, RCW 60.04.031, presents an interesting array of “if-then” scenarios in which the notice requirements are imposed. Generally, unless falling under one of three exempted categories, RCW 60.04.031…
In my latest Daily Journal of Commerce Construction column, I discuss the stop notice remedy. When a subcontractor or supplier goes unpaid on a private project, one possible remedy is to file a lien against the land or improvements. The lien remedy has its limits, however. If you start work after the project has gotten…
Following the market crash in 2008-09, the $2.8 billion Fontainebleau development in Las Vegas was halted with 70 percent of the construction completed. Naturally, numerous mechanic’s liens were filed by contractors, subcontractors, professionals and suppliers ("claimants"). In the bankruptcy proceeding, the lenders asserted novel and potentially legally destabilizing theories against the claimants’ rights: a.) the…
Under Oregon law, a construction lien generally has priority over a trust deed or mortgage on an improvement. ORS 87.025(1). If a construction lien claimant has priority over a trust deed or mortgage, the construction lien claimant will get paid from the proceeds of a foreclosure sale before the trust deed holder or mortgagee. Having…
In Williams v. Athletic Field, Inc., 155 Wn. App. 434 (2010), the Washington Court of Appeals ruled that a lien filing was invalid because it was not properly acknowledged. This decision created a stir among Washington construction lawyers, because the lien claimant had used a lien filing service which in turn had used a form…
