Some Things To Know About Placing A Mechanic's Lien On A Public Project
Take a look at that beautiful aerial of Chicago’s City Hall from the Cook County Assessor’s Interactive Mapping Site (the left side with the beautiful garden, that’s it… the right side that’s simply roof… that’s the county’s side). It has a Property Identification Number (PIN), it can be located, but you can’t lien it - it’s public property.
More pertinent to today’s discussion is this:
The Irving Park Brown Line stop… again, a public space, recently renovated and again, you can’t lien it… it’s public. Anyone getting ready to work on building projects for Chicago's hopeful 2016 Olympic bid will want to familiarize themselves with ways to get paid for public works projects.
Section 23 of the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act governs the application of the act to public projects, or rather, to the public funds behind the public project. The distinction is important because unlike a regular action, Section 23 only allows a person performing work for someone who has a contract with the public entity (or someone in the chain of such contracts – but certainly not those entities contracting directly with the public body) who has performed work on a public project to place a lien on public funds dedicated to that project… and only on those funds that haven’t been disbursed by the time it notifies the public entity in charge of the project that it is claiming a lien.
Time is of the essence in exercising your mechanics lien rights on these public funds. You need to get the notice on file as soon as possible so there will still be a chance that funds are left, and then you’ll be forced to file a court action within 90 days after your notice is received or you will lose the rights. An attorney can walk you through the process, but suffice it to say, timing is important, and so is getting the notice right.
To that end, today’s case involves exactly such a lien for work done on the Brown Line Renovation Project mentioned above. Here is a copy of the complaint. EMCO Metalworks is suing the CTA and McHugh for foreclosure of its mechanics lien on the public funds and for breach of contract. The electronic case docket can be found here.
The complaint will be informative not only for the pleading, but also for the notice provided as Exhibit C.
The lessons about timing and making sure you’re ready cannot be overlooked when you know you will be filing suit within 90 days of the notice if you have not been paid.
