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One Extra Step, Add the Notice to Lender

Chris Brashear, CFO & CPA   October 28, 2024

One Extra Step Could Make the Difference.

One of the most powerful, yet ostensibly most underutilized financial tools a contractor has access to is the mechanic’s lien. Every state recognizes some form of this protection that serves to protect a contractor or supplier who is having the challenge of non-payment for work completed. Contractor’s unfortunately do not take action in many cases because it is hard to admit there is an issue, and the time frames to notify ( some as little as 45 days from completion) arrive quickly.

The lien establishes an encumbrance on the worksite property address, which can make it difficult to sell, transfer or obtain financing until it has been removed.

Powerful indeed! Relatively inexpensive and although the requirements can be complex, there are services, like Lienlok, that can make it very easy and affordable.

Notice to Lender Also Overlooked

Well, if the lien itself is underutilized, then one of the least known and underused features of the mechanic’s lien is to couple the lien with a notice to the property owner’s lender.

For the purposes of this article, I am going to use the term “notice to lender” synonymously with a legally prepared notice to the property’s current mortgage servicer. Unlike Colorado, most states do not address this notice in their statutes, but most would agree that to enhance and intensify the already powerful lien, taking this extra step can mean the difference between successful payment resolution and not. 

The notice itself mirrors that produced for the required notices to the property owner and /or the prime contractor. The challenge is in the location of the current mortgage servicer for the property. Because the administration privileges of the mortgage almost always get sold after the original funding, the simple act of locating the current mortgage servicer can become a challenge. Some mortgages are sold multiple times within a few years’ time span after origination. It is not going to produce any additional pressure to increase the likelihood of payment if a notice is delivered to a servicer that no longer has the rights to manage the mortgage.

The time and investment it has taken in the past to identify where a mortgage has landed has traditionally not been cost effective. But today, with digital developments within the lending industry, there are some options to enhance the discovery process. LienLok has invested in and utilizes some of these tools to pinpoint the responsible servicer from among the trail of sales that can often be strewn through it’s history.

Once located, the pressure produced by the property owner’s realization that their lender is aware of the encumbrance, creates a dynamic that changes the way the property owner makes decisions regarding the debt. A bank has acute interest in keeping the title clear and may even begin working for you by placing pressure on the property owner to resolve expeditiously.

This is most certainly a step beyond what most mechanic lien filers offer and does require some focused diligence to locate the lender. Some property owners understand that if they don’t intend to sell or re-finance the property, they can wait out lien period, and unless a suit is filed, will have no issue. The lender strategy can magnify the issue and can cause great alarm for a property owner, now more willing to prioritize your request for payment.



Chris Brashear, CFO, CPA                                                                                                                                                                                                    970-617-4189                                                                                                                                                                                          chris@wingate.ai              www.wingate.ai

WinGateFinancial

Does A LienLok free Notice of Intent Create Payments

By Chris Brashear • January 20, 2025
A Mechanic’s Lien is one of the most powerful tools afforded to a contractor when payment is in jeopardy. Although there are various process quirements from state to state, all require a documented and tracked notification to the payor. This notification allows the payor to verify the information, and if that the owed amount is accurate. The letter serves as official notice that the payee intends to encumber the property where the work was performed. A Notification of Intent to Lien has very specific requirements that must be adhered to in order to preserve the Mechanic’s Lien rights. If a notice is missing critical format or data, then the Mechanic’s Lien can be declared faulty and may not be effective. Because the time window for the Mechanic’s lien is so narrow, when a mistake is made, the potential right to protect oneself can be eliminated altogether. The timing regarding when a mechanic’s lien can be utilized differs somewhat by state, usually from 60 days to 120 days from the date of last work on the project. An effective Notice of Intent to Lien must either be delivered by personal service or by registered mail with a return receipt requested. The attempt must be made at the last two known addresses of the payor. It must also be served upon property owner at least 10 days before the lien is filed. The content of the Notice of intent to file is also prescribed and must include a clear intent to file the lien should payment not be made. A specific deadline for the payment to be made and the amount owed, including the detail for any fees or interest being included.. The property where the work was performed mustbbe clearly described with an accurate legal description as designated by the county property assessor. Here is an example. R1963786 Parcel 095903419002 GR WMW19-2 L2 BLK 19 WESTMOOR WEST. Win gate Financial Partners has built an internal system for filing mechanic’s liens and is excited to offer a FREE legally compliant Notice of Intent to File” introductory offer. By simply loading your documents regarding the debt into our online Lien Lok portal. Win Gate Financial will prepare and deliver a Notice of Intent to Lien anywhere in the United States. This alone may encourage payment. If payment has not been forwarded, LienLok will reach out to you at or about the 10th day to see if you would like to move the lien forward. Wingate can at that point execute the mechanic’s lien for you and your Team for one low price. Again there is no obligation to move this forward and we look forward to hearing from you and offering this value add feature to any contractor in the United States!
A wooden ladder is sitting in the doorway of a brick building under construction.

The Difference Between WinGate Instant Asset Funding & Factoring

By Chris Brashear • October 28, 2024
Wingate goes where no factoring company has ever dared to go! Predictivity is a necessity for a financial services firm offering invoice factoring. If you hope to survive in this industry, definable variables, such as selling price, typical vendor payment terms and a planned profit margin flow through to an understood formula that can help assure profitability. We see this in practice with most factoring firms pursuing the market segments where these factors can be controlled with little unexpected variance. Enter Wingate Financial Wingate has chosen to offer cash to contractors who are not only waiting to be paid but are waiting for the insurance industry to pay the customer who will then ultimately pay Wingate. Not only is the timing of the payment unknown, but in many cases even the amount being purchased from the contractor hasn’t fully been established yet. “This is precisely the reason Wingate sees an opportunity to serve the contractor who is paid largely from insurance carrier claims, like a roofer or a restoration specialist.” A project can be completed for months before the details can be reviewed by an insurance carrier and then the negotiation ensues. This delay can cause unexpected cash valleys for the contractor. Wingate has acquired the skills to be able to review a “pending” payout in as little as 2 hours and make a cash payment to the contractor in 24 hours. Most offers are north of 90% of the latest approved claim amount. Never been this simple with no credit inquiry, or personal information needed. This is a specialty tool for your financial guru to have in her arsenal for when those very intense and unplanned cash deficits surface. Three simple documents are loaded, and cash is in your account by tomorrow. To our knowledge Wingate is the only financial services firm smoothing cash flow cycles for the insurance claim contractor. If you would like to discuss a potential payout or just ask a few questions, please call Chris Brashear directly at 970-617-4189.
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