{"id":2985,"date":"2014-06-11T06:46:28","date_gmt":"2014-06-11T12:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=2985"},"modified":"2014-06-02T16:46:46","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T22:46:46","slug":"illinois-court-throws-hammer-contractors-ability-recover-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/illinois-court-throws-hammer-contractors-ability-recover-fees\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Court Throws Down Hammer on Contractor\u2019s Ability to Recover Fees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas G. Cronin &#8211; May 21, 2014<\/p>\n<p>The Illinois Appellate Court recently affirmed summary judgment against a contractor on the validity of its mechanic\u2019s lien, finding that the contractor failed to comply with a simple \u2014 but costly \u2014 requirement provided for under the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act (770 ILCS 60\/1 et seq. (West 2004)).<\/p>\n<p>Cityline Construction v. Roberts, 2014 Ill. App. (1st) 130730 (March 7, 2014), involved construction work performed on a fire-damaged residence owned by Andrew Roberts and Valerie Gherold (owners). Cityline sued the owners to enforce its mechanic\u2019s lien claim when it was not able to recover $397,302 in fees and costs from the defendants.\u00a0 While there was no dispute that the work was performed, the owners\u2019 defense was simple: Cityline failed to provide them with an affidavit listing the subcontractors and suppliers performing work and the amounts each was owed and, as such, they were not obligated to pay the fees Cityline sought.<\/p>\n<p>Section 5(a) of the Act specifically provides, \u201cIt shall be the duty of the contractor to give the owner, and the duty of the owner to require of the contractor,\u201d a sworn statement listing the subcontractors, suppliers, and the amounts due. Here, Cityline admitted it had failed to supply the required sworn statement to the owners \u2014 despite having received a request from them to provide same. In affirming the trial court\u2019s decision, the Appellate Court found that the procedural and technical requirements of the Act \u201cmust be strictly complied with in order for a mechanic\u2019s lien to be valid.\u201d Simply, the statute clearly sets forth that where an owner demands a sworn statement, it is the contractor\u2019s duty to provide one to preserve any potential mechanic\u2019s lien claim.<\/p>\n<p>As the\u00a0attached publication\u00a0from\u00a0The CBA Record\u00a0sets forth from the outset, \u201cWhile [the Act] may not be as popular or as well-known as other avenues for justice, its bite is certainly worse than its bark.\u201d\u00a0 After the Appellate Court\u2019s ruling here, it is doubtful Cityline would argue. Had Cityline complied with the Act in providing the owners with a sworn statement, it undoubtedly would have had an easier path to recovering its unpaid fees.<\/p>\n<p>Because the Act is automatically incorporated into every construction contract in the state of Illinois \u2014 regardless of the amount of the contract price \u2014 it is imperative that contractors comply with the Act\u2019s stringent requirements to preserve their right to recovery.<\/p>\n<p>via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lexology.com\/library\/detail.aspx?g=a71db108-ac64-47eb-bb99-63ed30aee5dc&amp;utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&amp;utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Other+states+section&amp;utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&amp;utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2014-05-29&amp;utm_term=\">Illinois Court throws down hammer on contractor\u2019s ability to recover fees &#8211; Lexology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas G. Cronin &#8211; May 21, 2014 The Illinois Appellate Court recently affirmed summary judgment against a contractor on the validity of its mechanic\u2019s lien, finding that the contractor failed to comply with a simple \u2014 but costly \u2014 requirement provided for under the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act (770 ILCS 60\/1 et seq. (West 2004)).&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/illinois-court-throws-hammer-contractors-ability-recover-fees\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Illinois Court Throws Down Hammer on Contractor\u2019s Ability to Recover Fees<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172,8],"tags":[18,536,184],"class_list":["post-2985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","category-mechanics-lien-rights","tag-contractor","tag-fee-recovery","tag-mechanics-lien-law","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Illinois Court Throws Down Hammer on Contractor\u2019s Ability to Recover Fees - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/illinois-court-throws-hammer-contractors-ability-recover-fees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois Court Throws Down Hammer on Contractor\u2019s Ability to Recover Fees - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thomas G. Cronin &#8211; May 21, 2014 The Illinois Appellate Court recently affirmed summary judgment against a contractor on the validity of its mechanic\u2019s lien, finding that the contractor failed to comply with a simple \u2014 but costly \u2014 requirement provided for under the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act (770 ILCS 60\/1 et seq. 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Cronin &#8211; May 21, 2014 The Illinois Appellate Court recently affirmed summary judgment against a contractor on the validity of its mechanic\u2019s lien, finding that the contractor failed to comply with a simple \u2014 but costly \u2014 requirement provided for under the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act (770 ILCS 60\/1 et seq. 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