The Cobb Law Group are real lawyers practicing Georgia construction law throughout the state from our multiple offices. Since our firms inception in 1992, we have been anchored in north metropolitan Atlanta, and have a great deal of experience filing materialmen’s liens and making payment bond claims on projects located in Jefferson in Jackson County, Georgia.

Jackson County is a thriving, metropolitan area with a booming construction industry. When you are working on or supplying to a construction project located in Braselton, Commerce, Hoschton, Jefferson or anywhere in Jackson County, if you are not paid, then we can help you enforce your right to payment. We can assess your claims and guide you through the preparing and filing such documents including:

• Georgia Preliminary Liens
• Affidavits of Nonpayment
• Georgia Mechanics and Materialmen’s Liens
• Miller Act Payment Bond Claims
• Georgia’s Little Miller Act Bond Claims
• Georgia’s Statutory Construction Notice Compliance

A CASE STUDY OF A RECENT JACKSON COUNTY MATERIALMAN’S LIEN

One morning a couple of months ago, we opened our email to find a frantic email from a long-time client. Our client had supplied equipment for use on a tenant’s build-out of a commercial property. As it turned out, the general contractor had hired a subcontractor to perform a part of the construction; the subcontractor, in turn, rented the equipment from our client under an open account but failed to pay my client. Thus, our client was asking us to help them enforce their lien rights.

DEADLINE!

Reading through our client’s email, we discovered the first potential glitch–the deadline for filing the claim of lien! Our client’s equipment had been last used on the jobsite 89 days ago. Since, all types of construction liens must be filed within 90 days of the last day in which the lien claimant actually worked on (or, in this case, supplied to) the project, we knew that we would have to prepare and file the lien that very day!

Needless to say, we got right to work. We were able to locate a copy of a potential Notice of Commencement covering the project, but had our client preserved its right to file a lien by sending a timely Notice to Owner and Notice to Contractor? Another quick email confirmed that, in fact, our client had sent the requisite notices which was great news since they did not have privity of contract with the owner.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE ISSUE!

Next, we found another potential glitch. The project was owned by the county development authority. This always poses an issue as development authorities across Georgia assume quasi-private and quasi-public characteristics. It is important to understand the type of entity which owns a particular project as it effects which remedies are available to the party seeking payment. Construction companies and suppliers who have not been paid on private projects typically seek recovery under a mechanics or materialman lien; those who have not been paid on public works projects are usually limited to recovery under a payment bond.

Since we were under such a tight deadline, we decided to pursue simultaneous remedies on behalf of our client. That meant that we would (i) prepare and file a materialman’s lien against the project and (ii) we would make a claim against the development authority’s surety. And, we had to get both done before the end of the work day!

Our of our construction lawyers and a construction paralegal worked hard; we found the legal description for the real estate to be liens, and we finished the lien. We submitted it for filing at the courthouse in Jefferson, Georgia (the county seat for Jackson County) via special courier; concurrently, we prepare a written notice of our client’s claim against any and all payment bonds covering the project. They were sent certified mail to various parties including the development authority, the general contractor, the subcontractor, and the surety.

RESULTS OF FILING THE LIEN:

Well, it was a lot of work to prepare and file a lien and a payment bond claim on the same day that we received the request from our client, but all the hard work resulted in some very good news. Within two weeks, our client received payment in full for all of the money they were owed on the equipment which they had supplied, and we were directed to release the lien against the project and dismiss our payment bond claim.

Although every situation is different, we have successfully filed and prosecuted thousands of materialmen’s liens and payment bond claims throughout Georgia including Jackson County, Georgia. If you have worked on a Georgia construction project and are awaiting payment, don’t let your deadline to file a lien pass you by. Call us today!

In Georgia, liens are always filed in the county courthouse where the project is located. Thus, if you are owned money on a project in Braselton, Commerce, Jefferson or anywhere in Jackson County, the lien will need to be filed with the clerk of court of Jackson County Superior Court. You may found the following information useful:

Listed below is contact information for the Jackson County Clerk of Court for any questions you may have prior to contacting a lawyer (please note this information may change without notice):

Clerk of Court’s Address:
Jackson County Superior Court Clerk
ATTN: Materialmen’s Lien Filing Desk
5000 Jackson Parkway, Suite 150
P.O. Box 7
Jefferson, GA 30549

Clerk of Court’s Telephone Number:
(706) 387-6246

Website:
http://www.jacksoncountygov.com/176/Clerk-of-Courts

Mechanic’s Lien Filing Fees:
$5.00 for the first page and $2.00 for each additional page

The information contained on this website is for information purposes only; you are directed to consult with your attorney regarding the risks involved in filing mechanics and materialmen’s liens as well as all other aspects of lien filing including, but not limited to proper forms, conditions precedent, legal descriptions, notice requirements, and the statutes of limitations.  Nothing contained herein creates an attorney-client relationship between the Cobb Law Group and you.  Furthermore, no warranties, expressed or implied, are provided for the data herein, its use or interpretation.  Please contact us for further information.