I know contractors aren’t happy that they have to pay an Attorney collect money they are owed.  And I don’t really blame them, in a perfect world that money should go straight to their bottom line.  But since it isn’t a perfect world, I try to explain to my clients why this remedy is beneficial to them.  A good article on the subject has been written recently by Scott Wolf Jr., “what happens when you file a mechanic’s lien“.  In the article he goes over some of the reasons it’s good to have a Mechanic’s Lien on your side.

Here are three of the reasons he gives in his article:

– “Without a mechanics lien, you can only sue the party you contracted with. With a lien, you can sue the property owner, those up the contracting chain from you, and the surety bonding the project.

– A mechanics lien can prevent a property from being sold, transferred or refinanced.

– Without a mechanics lien, you have no security when you file suit on your breach of contract claim. With a lien, your claim has the property as security.”

I would probably add that a Mechanic’s Lien can survive Bankruptcy in some circumstances.  Since it’s tied to the property, not the person, unlike a lawsuit or judgment.