Thanks to Scott Wolfe (@scottwolfejr) for the opportunity to post at his great Construction & Mechanic’s Lien Blog on the topic of changes to Virginia’s mechanic’s lien statute. Here’s a sample of the post:
I have discussed the picky nature of Virginia mechanic’s liens often over at my Construction Law Musings blog. Not only are the requirements and details strictly enforced, but the Virginia General Assembly seems to feel the need to tweak them in each of its sessions.
The latest change involves the use of a mechanic’s lien agent on residential projects. Beginning at the start of this month, July 1, 2010, a contractor can no longer depend on the failure of the owner to list a mechanic’s lien agent on the posted building permit. The new statute requires that a contractor go beyond merely reading the building permit and make a reasonable inquiry with the local building authority to determine the identity of the mechanic’s lien agent.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to reach a new audience with a guest post. As all of my readers know, I am a big fan of guest posts and having others guest post here at Musings.
Check out this blog and the Wolfe Law Group‘s great resource for construction professionals, the Construction Law Monitor.
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
Thanks for guest posting for us, and especially for clearing up the recent changes to the Virginia Mechanic Lien notice requirement. It seems like a pretty steep requirement for contractors on every applicable project to do this investigative work to find the MLA? Isn’t the city agency with this information going to get sick of these phone calls?!
You would think so. And yes, it’s steep. My guess is the General Assembly thought that the change would help out already credit strapped homeowners. It will likely just be another trip wire for the unwary.
Thanks for the Guest Post opportunity.