New lien laws add to contractors’ administrative tasks

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RALEIGH — To impose a mechanic’s lien against a property owner, contractors soon will have a new series of hoops to jump through before they start building projects costing $30,000 or more.

Starting April 1, local officials will begin enforcing the new Mechanic’s Lien Laws passed in the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2012 session and signed by Gov. Bev Perdue in July, according to an advisory from the Mecklenburg County code enforcement staff.

A brief prepared by the Raleigh law firm of Poyner Spruill, whose portfolio of specialties includes land-use and building law, says that “the most significant changes relate to the creation of ‘lien agents,’ who must be placed on notice by any potential lien claimant.”

The contractor must designate a lien agent on the building permits, at a cost of $50 per permit. The contractor can choose from a list of insurance companies and agents who are approved the state Department of Insurance, said the brief prepared by Poyner Spruill partners Thomas Davis and Daniel Cahill.

Lisa Martin, a lobbyist for the North Carolina Home Builders Association, said the NCHB has conducted seminars for its members to prepare them for the coming enforcement.

In addition to the lien-agent requirement, the new statutes impose a series of other stipulations, most of them regarding the timing of notifying the agent and filing claims.

To read the Poyner Spuill brief in full, click here.