Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009 - (Page 19)

feature Change Has Arrived: Georgia’s New Lien Law By Frank E. Riggs, Esq., Partner Troutman Sanders LLP In 2008, the Georgia Legislature passed the most sweeping changes yet to the Georgia lien laws. In the Third Quarter 2008 issue of Georgia Construction Today, Mike Dunham, Georgia Branch AGC executive vice president, shared with you the Chapter’s role in the passage of these extensive lien law revisions. This article highlights the most signiﬁcant of the changes effective as of March 31, 2009. For a more comprehensive article, complete with the revised statutory lien forms, please visit Georgia Branch, AGC’s Web site at www.agcga.org; select News, Useful Industry Articles, then 2009 Georgia Lien Law Changes. Serving Lien Discharge Bonds Lien Filing Timeframe and Mailing Requirements • A claim of lien must be ﬁled within 90 days after the lien claimant’s performance of its last lienable work, as opposed to the three-month deadline under existing law. • Within two business days after the claim of lien is ﬁled, a copy of the claim of lien must be mailed by registered or certiﬁed mail or statutory overnight delivery to the property owner. • If the property owner’s address cannot be found or if a Notice of Commencement has been ﬁled, a copy of the claim lien also must be similarly served on the contractor at the address shown on the Notice of Commencement. • Within seven days of ﬁling a lien discharge bond, the party ﬁling the bond must send a notice of the ﬁling of the bond and a copy of the bond by registered or certiﬁed mail or statutory overnight delivery to the lien claimant. • If the lien discharge bond is ﬁled by the contractor, the notice of ﬁling of the bond and a copy of the bond must be sent to the property owner. New Notice of Contest of Lien • The owner or contractor can ﬁle a Notice of Contest of Lien demanding that the lien claimant ﬁle an action to enforce its lien within 60 days or the claim of lien will be deemed void. • The Notice of Contest of Lien must be sent, within seven days of its ﬁling, by registered or certiﬁed mail or statutory overnight delivery to the lien claimant. Proof of this service also must be ﬁled with the Notice of Contest. Legal Action to Enforce Lien Rights • To preserve a lien claim, the lien claimant must ﬁle a lawsuit, bankruptcy claim or arbitration claim against the party with whom it contracted within 365 days from the date the claim of lien is ﬁled. • An arbitration demand is now included as one of the “legal actions” which will satisfy the ﬁling requirement. • The lien claimant has 30 days, as opposed to 14 days, from the ﬁling of the legal action to ﬁle a notice that the legal action has been commenced with the Superior Court where the lien was ﬁled. New Required Lien Waiver Forms • Lien waivers must be in bold face capital letters in at least 12 point font. • Interim and ﬁnal lien waivers, conditioned on the receipt of payment, become “unconditional” and binding 60 days after the date of the lien waiver, even if the promised 19 Georgia CONSTRUCTION TODAY FIRST QUARTER 2009 http://www.agcga.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009

Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009 Contents Message from the President Leading in Tough Economic Times Breaking the Cycle of Workforce Insanity Chapter’s Workers’ Compensation Program Delivers Greater Value with Multi-State Coverage Am I Getting Enough from My Insurance Broker? Change Has Arrived: Georgia’s New Lien Law Index to Advertisers

Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009

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