{"id":897084,"date":"2020-02-18T16:21:43","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T23:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=897084"},"modified":"2020-02-18T16:21:53","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T23:21:53","slug":"beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andrew Atkins, Peter Marino and Patrick Wilson | Smith Anderson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision reiterates the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction or development project in our state. In Davis & Taft<\/em>,1<\/a><\/sup> the Court of Appeals found that the design firm that performed design services for a prospective<\/em> property purchaser could not properly assert a lien on the property, given the design services were never actually used to improve the property. While this case involved a design firm, the lesson of this case extends to any party providing labor or materials on any type of construction or development project in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 44A-7(6) defines the owner of real property as a \u201cperson who has an interest in the real property improved and for whom an improvement is made and who ordered the improvement to be made.\u201d N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 44A-7(3) defines an improvement as, among other things, an \u201cimprovement upon, connected with, or on or beneath the surface of any real property, . . . .\u201d In Davis & Taft<\/em>, the Court noted that the terms \u201clabor\u201d and \u201cimprove\u201d contemplate actual work<\/em> upon the subject property performed by the person claiming the lien. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The design firm in the Davis & Taft<\/em> case contracted with a company interested in buying the subject property. The sale fell through, but before it did, the design firm performed $230,000 in design work, $80,000 of which remained unpaid. The design firm filed a lien on real property and sued to enforce the lien. The trial court dismissed the lien claim at summary judgment, and the Court of Appeals affirmed this decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court reasoned that since the design services were under contract to a prospective buyer and not an \u201cowner\u201d of the property at issue, and because the design was never actually used to \u201cimprove\u201d the property as required by the statute, that no lien on the property was permissible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key takeaway for construction and design industry professionals is to ensure the entity that hires you or your company actually owns the subject property. If they don\u2019t, then you may not be able to rely on lien rights as a basis for recovery. Concerned parties can also protect their interests by confirming whether the project is protected by payment and performance bonds.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This case highlights the risks parties take with respect to contracting with potential future owners and with respect to performing design or construction related activities in connection with a project that never materializes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

1<\/a> <\/sup>Davis & Taft Architecture, P.A. v. DDR-Shadowline, LLC<\/em>, 835 S.E.2d 473, 475 (N.C. Ct. App. 2019).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Atkins, Peter Marino and Patrick Wilson | Smith Anderson A recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision reiterates the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction or development project in our state. In Davis & Taft,1 the Court of Appeals found that the design… Continue reading Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien<\/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":[14,9009],"tags":[9895,12,284,468,11087],"class_list":["post-897084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","category-design-professionals","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction","tag-design-professionals","tag-lien-claims","tag-risk","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction\" \/>\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\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-18T23:21:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-18T23:21:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-18T23:21:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-18T23:21:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\"},\"wordCount\":463,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise & Consult\",\"construction\",\"Design Professionals\",\"Lien Claims\",\"Risk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction\",\"Design Professionals\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\",\"name\":\"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien - Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-18T23:21:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-18T23:21:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien - Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien - Advise & Consult, Inc.","og_description":"the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/","og_site_name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2020-02-18T23:21:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-18T23:21:53+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien","datePublished":"2020-02-18T23:21:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-18T23:21:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/"},"wordCount":463,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise & Consult","construction","Design Professionals","Lien Claims","Risk"],"articleSection":["Construction","Design Professionals"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/","name":"Beware of the Risks! No Ownership, No Lien - Advise & Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-02-18T23:21:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-18T23:21:53+00:00","description":"the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-the-risks-no-ownership-no-lien\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3Ln6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":897085,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897084\/revisions\/897085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}