I love the Contractors in Tennessee whom whine that the National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) Regime Members won’t pay them. Lien. Plain and simple. Do not attempt to negotiate: LIEN! Hell, make it a Family Event! Take your spreadsheets down to the Public Library and Post an Adopt A Lien Program! Make no mistake that when Companies like Altisource, the same NAMFS Regime Member whom is Sponsoring the Membership of Michigan Realty Solutions and Cheap Suit Jay — they are in Tennessee now according to his Facebook Page — start to have properties show up with MULTIPLE Liens, they will begin to pay. If you are in Tennessee and want to drive up to the Foreclosurepedia GHQ, I will walk you through the process FREE OF CHARGE!
If a clause of this sort somehow makes it into a contract, it is no longer enforceable — so said Gov. Phil Bredesen — when he signed House Bill 743 into law.
A mechanic’s lien is a claim made by a contractor, subcontractor or materials supplier on the property. If enforced, the contractor could force a sale of the property to pay the claim.
Robert Lee Jr., owner of Lee Masonry Inc., of Nashville, TN, and government relations chairman for the American Subcontractors Association of Middle Tennessee (ASAMT), said this is a simple piece of legislation and its tenet goes back a long way.
“Lien laws date back to the days of Thomas Jefferson and they address the fact that a person supplying materials or labor are not in the same position of power as the owner,” Lee said.
According to an ASAMT news release, the law amends Section 66-11-124 of the Tennessee code to state that, “Any contract provision that purports to waive any right of lien under this chapter is void and unenforceable as against the public policy of this state.”
In Tennessee, construction clients can no longer write clauses in a contract to relinquish a subcontractor’s rights to a mechanic’s lien
In an article published on ASAMT’s Web site titled “Tennessee Lien Law in Plain English,” David N. Garst, a Nashville attorney wrote, “Under Tennessee law, the right to assert a mechanics’ and materialmen’s lien is granted by statute to persons who have performed work or provided materials to improve real estate.
This statute allows such persons to assert claims against the land itself to secure payment of their fees. For the purposes of this law, buildings or structures erected upon land are considered a part of the land and the lien applies to these improvements as well.”
Some Tennessee construction contractors wishing to remain anonymous agreed the new law may improve subcontractors’ chances of securing delinquent payment.
“We have always had protection, but before, there were lots of hoops to jump through,” said one source. “You had to use an attorney, and you needed a lot of experience to follow it through properly.”
Lee said that prior to the legislation being passed, subcontractors were at risk of unknowingly becoming victims of unscrupulous property owners or general contractors.
“There could be a clause in a contract calling for a contractor to waive their lien rights and if the subcontractor didn’t have access to the contract or simply failed to read the fine print, their lien rights would also be waived,” Lee said.
One company representative confided that many clients have financial trouble and very often there are difficulties in obtaining payment. [Sound like NAMFS Regime shit?!]
“There are lots of issues out there today,” he said. “Bankruptcies are rampant.”
Under Tennessee state law, if a person has performed work or made improvements to property or real estate, that person has the right to assert a so-called mechanics’ lien on said property.
“By state law, subcontractors can’t lose their rights to file mechanics’ liens just by agreeing to take on work,” Lee said. “Tennessee subcontractors wanted to put an end to that abusive practice, which totally denied them their rights. Legislators agreed that contractors and subcontractors were being manipulated out of the security that mechanics’ liens provide.”
Some states still permit contractual lien waivers or contract provisions that eliminate a contractor’s or subcontractor’s ability to file a mechanic’s lien — even when the client refuses to pay.
“The Tennessee legislation levels the playing field for subcontractors,” Lee said. “Even if a lien waiver clause is slipped into a contract, it is deemed null and void according to the Tennessee state legislature.”
