LIEN:
Preconstruction Lien:
-The claimant’s name, mailing address, and telephone number;
-A statement that the claimant claims a preconstruction lien;
-The date the claimant’s notice of preconstruction service was filed;
-The name of the person who employed the claimant;
-A general description of the preconstruction service provided by the claimant;
-The date that the claimant last provided preconstruction service;
-The name, if known, of the reputed owner or, if not known, the name of the record owner of the property;
-A description of the project property sufficient for identification;
-The principal amount, excluding interest, costs, and attorney fees, claimed by the claimant;
-The claimant’s signature or the signature of the claimant’s authorized agent;
-An acknowledgment or certificate as required under Title 57, Chapter 3, Recording of Documents; and
-If the lien is against an owner-occupied residence, as defined in Section 38–11–102, a statement meeting the requirements that the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing by rule, describing the steps the owner of the owner-occupied residence may take to require a claimant to remove the lien as provided in Section 38–11–107.
NOTE THAT a claimant who is an original contractor or a supervising subcontractor may include in a notice of preconstruction lien the name, address, and telephone number of each subcontractor who is under contract with the claimant to provide preconstruction service that the claimant is under contract to provide. NOTE, HOWEVER, that the inclusion of a subcontractor in a notice of preconstruction lien filed by another claimant is not a substitute for the subcontractor’s own submission of a notice of preconstruction lien. [38-1a-402]
Construction Lien:
-Name of the reputed owner or, if not known, of the record owner
-Name of person by whom the claimant was employed or to whom claimant provided construction work;
-Dates when claimant first and last provided construction work;
-Description of the project property sufficient for identification;
-The name of the county in which the property is located
-Either (a) the tax parcel identification number of each parcel included in that property; or (b) the number of the building permit for the construction project on the property
-Claimant’s name, current address, and current phone number
-The amount of the claim. A claimant may have both a preconstruction lien and a construction lien on the same property. A construction lien may include the amount for preconstruction service, but a preconstruction lien cannot include amounts claimed for construction service. (NOTE that where payments are made to a subcontractor and supplier by joint check, if there is no agreement with the owner or general as to allocation, then the supplier endorsing the check will be deemed to have received the funds due. If a lien is subsequently filed, the original contractor will not be responsible for amounts that were owed to the supplier at the time they were paid jointly to the sub and supplier. [SFR, Inc. v. Comtrol, Inc, 77 P.3d 629 (Utah App. 2008)] NOTE ALSO that attorney’s fees may be reduced proportionately where amount recovered is less than amount sought. See discussion in Attorney’s fees discussion, below.) Note that the amount of the lien must not include costs and attorney’s fees. The cited case was based on the statutes before they were amended in 2012, but there does not appear to be a reason that this rule would not continue to apply. (Note that this case ruled that the original lien, which didn’t include fees and costs, was valid, but the amended liens which included fees and costs were not. It is unclear if the entire original lien would be invalid if it included fees and costs, but that is a definite possibility.) [2 Ton Plumbing, L.L.C. v. Thorgaard, — P.3d —-, 2015 WL 404592 (2015)]
-Signed by claimant or claimant’s authorized agent. Per case law, the claimant’s attorney may sign the lien. Culmer v. Clift, 14 Utah 286, 47 P. 85 (1896).
-Notice must be acknowledged
-If project is an owner-occupied residence, then claimant must include a statement describing what steps an owner may take to require the lien claimant to remove the lien.
[38-1a-502; 38-1a-203; 38-1a-301]
NOTE: A claimant may claim a preconstruction or construction lien against two or more improvements owned by the same person, but claimant must designate the amount claimed due on each [38-1a-405]
RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS:
The notice must also be included in all lien notices, for both preconstruction and construction liens. [38-1a-502]
PAYMENT BOND:
No specific provision.
BALANCE STATEMENT/AMEND-MENT TO PRELIMINARY NOTICE (also called a “Remaining to Complete”): The amendment must include:
-A good faith estimate of the total amount remaining due to complete the contract, purchase order or agreement pertaining to the claimant’s approved construction work;
-The identification of each original contractor or subcontractor with whom the claimant has a contract or contracts to provide construction work; and
-A separate statement of all known amounts or categories of work in dispute. Note that if the claimant misrepresents the amount due, with the intent to overcharge the customer or procure some other unfair advantage, the claimant may be fined. [38-1a-506]
Within 10 days after filing the balance statement, a claimant may demand a statement of adequate assurance from the owner, contractor or subcontractor with whom the claimant contracts, which may include a request for a statement from the owner, contractor or sub that the owner, contractor or sub has sufficient funds dedicated and available to pay for all sums due or to become due to the person requesting the assurance. [38-1a-506]
CLAIM FOR RETENTION PROCEEDS:
Final billing statement. [13-8-5]
