David E White

August 21, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Mechanics' Lien Law, 49 P.S. Section 1101 et seq. (the Lien Law), provides contractors a powerful legal hammer for the recovery of payment owed for work performed on a construction project; they can impose a lien against the property on which their work was performed, clouding the owner's title, until payment is received. In December 2016, as a result of last year's Act 142 (the act) amendments to the Lien Law, the Department of General Services launched the online State Construction Notices Directory (the directory). Prior to the creation of the directory, there was no streamlined system for owners and general contractors to track subcontractors and suppliers on a project site.

By David E. White and 
Esther Soria Mignanelli

14 minute read

July 23, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

Consider that in order to secure payment, a contractor may file a mechanic's lien on real property on which it performed work. The lien places an encumbrance against the owner's real property for the unpaid balance of the contractor's work. When Thomas Jefferson, then as secretary of State under George Washington, proposed this nation's first mechanic's lien law in 1791, he almost certainly did not contemplate a lien being filed against the types of structures commonly built today, particularly those arising out of shale play development.

By David E. White

8 minute read