Make Sure There's Relief to Be Had

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Ashley Brandt

Here's a reminder from the Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Court.  In Vancil v. Tres Amigos (docket #06-71254) the owner of a property, Tres Amigos, was looking to extinguish liens filed by two subcontractors of Vancil.  Tres Amigos brought the action to extinguish the liens where the two subs had not properly served Tres Amigos with their 90 day notices under the Illinois Mechanic's Lien Act.

A problem arose when the Court noted the Tres Amigos had never made one of the subs a party to the action and that it failed to assert a claim against the other sub, which was a co-defendant.  The Court pointed out the Tres Amigos would likely have prevailed on its claim, had it not failed to properly plead actions for which relief could be granted against the subcontractors.

  • The lesson learned here:  Make sure all your ducks are in a row before time, effort and money are spent asking the Court for relief that cannot be granted.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Amending The Mechanic's Lien Act to Include Written Notice for Contractors

Posted on March 6, 2008 by Ashley Brandt

In what is sure to be a contested issue, the new House Bill 5572 is a proposition to require written notice from the contractor to the owner of a single-family, owner-occupied dwelling, prior to filing a lien against any property of the owner.

  • Given that there is no time provision installed in this legislation, and that it does not include a method for serving the notice, and that the term "any" could be construed in multiple ways, it is likely that we'll see some revisions of this bill before it could be incorporated into the mechanic's lien act.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,