Must a subcontractor’s claim of lien identify the contractor in order to be valid? In the recent case of Robertson v. Ridge Environmental, LLC, the Court of Appeals of Georgia held that a subcontractor’s claim of lien does not need …
Payment Recovery
Public Owner Not Liable for Forged Non-Statutory Bond
When a cleaning contractor failed to pay its employees for cleaning services at a university, its employees sued the Board of Regents (BOR), asserting various creative arguments. For instance, they argued that the BOR and university were negligent in failing …
Surety Bond Lesson: Properly Identify the Parties
Surety bonds offer security to owners, contractors, subcontractors, and others for performance of work and payment therefor. Both payment and performance bonds provide a sense of comfort to parties that rely on bonded parties. But before relying on surety bonds, …
Effect of Municipalities’ Ultra Vires Contracts
In several prior blog posts, we discussed the effectiveness of implied-contract claims against public owners, such as counties, school boards, and municipalities. For instance, prior posts have addressed:
…The Creative-But-High Standard of “Alternative” Claims in Construction Disputes
Sometimes construction claimants and their attorneys need to think outside the box in their efforts to recover payment for work. There are many situations in which claimants adequately prove they are entitled to recover, but for one reason or another …
Georgia Enacts a State False Claims Act
The Georgia General Assembly recently enacted the Georgia Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act (the “Act”) to combat fraud and false claims directed to the state and local governmental funds.…
Recovery of County’s Ultra Vires Payments
At some point, a county’s board or administrators may be faced with complaints from the community about payments made to a private entity. Members of the community (or competitors of the payee) may raise a number of complaints, including:
• …
Lien Priority: Not Always Just a Matter of Filing
Non-payment can place contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in a precarious cash-flow situation. On most jobs, they outlay their capital and hard work in advance of payment by the owner. They rely on the owner to pay the correct amount at …