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How do I get my final payment on a time and material job with no pre lien?

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Oct 9, 2019

Once you have exhausted all internal collection efforts I would recommend assigning the account to licensed and bonded Commercial Collection Agency, the other option is to assign it to a Collection Attorney however that can be expensive. Good Luck, Patrick Spargur, ICCE 888-705-3688

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Oct 9, 2019

Who is your customer? The project owner? General contractor? Someone else? Is this a private project?

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Oct 9, 2019

So, if are facing a payment problem, you have a lot of options. As Chris highlights here, some of the options available to you will depend on the type of project, what your role is, etc, etc. Each of these things changes the situation slightly. Eventually, you may want to escalate the situation to a formal action (with an attorney, collection agency, etc.). However that should neither be your first step, nor is it always the best first step. 1) Do you have a lien or bond claim option? Your question states that you didn't send a "pre lien." I'm presuming that you refer here to the California preliminary notice. It is the case that usually, on both state and private projects, a contractor or supplier must send a preliminary notice at the start of a construction job to preserve their right to later file a lien or bond claim. There are some fringe exceptions: 1. If you are the general contractor (i.e. you contracted directly with the owner), it's possible that you are exempt, if there wasn't a lender on the job, for example; 2. If you're on a federal job; 3. If you did the work or provided the materials within the past 20 days!! then you can send the notice right now and capture it; Etc. First things first --- make sure you really are without lien/bond claim rights. And if you are really without the rights, then move onto... 2) Demands! You want to escalate the situation with everyone on the job, as soon as you can. I would recommend that you send a demand letter to a variety of people on the job. Even if you aren't without lien rights, that doesn't mean you can't make your debt known to the other parties on the job. This could freeze funds for you, it could put upward pressure on your customer, etc. There are lots of potential ways this can help you. Consult this article for help: Demand Letters for Contractors – How To Write One That Gets You Paid 3) Move Up The Escalation Chain You'll next want to start moving up the escalation chain. This is where a California collection agency with construction dispute experience, or a California construction attorney can help. Depending on how "in dispute" and how big your dispute is, you may want to play it differently. If you are owed a lot of money and it's going to be kind of tough work, getting started with a collection agency may be a good or a bad idea. Most agencies work on contingency and will take a big cut, wherein an hourly retainer with an attorney could be much more affordable. Or, a dispute may be so entrenched that it will definitely get litigated, in which case a collection agency could create a fee layer that makes it hard to litigate affordably. Etc. This kind of stuff depends situation-by-situation, and you'll want to talk to the different options and make a call on what is right for your situation. Good luck.

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Oct 9, 2019

I would recommend you send your final bill to the responsible party for payment request according to the terms of your contract. Then follow up with a phone call to the responsible party to inquire when payment will be made. Should you not get satisfaction, I would suggest sending the account to a Certified Commercial Collection Agency of America requesting their collection services on a contingency bases or request they send a Free Demand letter prior to placement of the debt for collection. Best regards, Steve

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