Coronavirus Updates
LienItNow is Fully Operational

As a company that works closely with the construction industry, local government clerks, and relies on delivery services such as UPS, FedEx and the USPS, LienItNow is closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19. In addition to the thousands who are affected by the illness, thousands more are indirectly dealing with changes in their work, school, and community environments, including our own employees.
Serving our customers
We understand that during this time of uncertainty, our customers may be concerned about the reliability of our services. Like  many companies, we have made adjustments to how our employees work, but we are currently experiencing no delays in the processing or delivery of orders. In the meantime, we depend on county and town clerks offices being open and operational, and on the various delivery services continuing to operate at normal levels. Should we become aware that a clerks offices has been closed or is operating at a reduced level, we will notify customers with orders that will be affected by this change. While we cannot predict what governments will ultimately decide to do, in the past, the time for liens claims have been generally extended for the period of time that filing them was not possible due to government closures.
Empowering our customers
We know that you are concerned about getting paid for work you've done, and also for your existing projects. With that in mind, we invite you to take a look at a paper on impacts on the construction industry published by Tesser & Cohen, a law firm serving New York and New Jersey. The paper provides several important tips to take into consideration for contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and other project participants.

*Stay At Home Orders Generally Exempt Construction Projects

Numerous state orders, including in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania, have closed "non-essential" businesses, affecting millions of American workers and businesses. Directives are constantly changing, but so far, with the exception of Pennsylvania, construction, and those businesses supporting construction, are generally not affected by these orders. Construction of commercial and residential projects, as well as renovations, are considered essential to the welfare of the state's citizens, and can continue to move forward, but with limitations in some cases.

*To ensure your business is not affected by the stay at home orders, please check the orders issued by the state or local government in which you are providing construction services.* 

*Now is the time to double check your paperwork

In the meantime, it is now more important than ever to document with owners what projects you are working on or supplying materials to, and how much you are owed. Please make sure to keep up with all prelien notices and liens when needed so your payment rights remain unaffected.

As families and businesses grapple with the Corona Virus Pandemic’s affect on the economy, contractors, subcontractors, owners and suppliers must review their current projects, contracts and/or purchase orders and begin preparations.

OWNERS:

• Review your contractual rights under the termination provisions and/or the suspension of work provisions in your contracts.
• Many contracts include “Termination for Convenience” or “Suspension” clauses that would likely be applicable to the current Pandemic.
  • Such clauses may give Owners the right to suspend or even terminate a contract as follows:
    • For any reason at all;
    • If a government directive is issued that prevents continuance of a Project; and/or
    • Acts of God, such as the Corona Virus Pandemic
  • Owners should communicate with their banks/lenders as to possible disruptions to normal financing arrangements.
  • Owners should immediately communicate with their general contractors and consultants to determine how they will handle a potential work stoppage due to the Corona Virus Pandemic.
  • If financially possible, plans should be put in place to address the concerns of the project itself, but all those who may be affected such as employees, individual consultants, and contractors/suppliers in the chain of construction.

CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS:

• Of crucial importance will be how Contractors and Subcontractors should be compensated in the event of a termination, suspension or other delay.
  • Many contracts that allow for “Termination for Convenience” call for some form of reimbursement to the Contractor, such as payment for work in place, and/or reasonable overhead and profit for work not yet performed.
  • A suspension of the contract may not result in payment of overhead/profit for uncompleted work, but may allow for immediate compensation of all work completed.
  • In addition, the contract may indicate that a suspension will result in termination if the suspension of work exceeds a certain number of days/months.
• NOTICE AND DELAY: If a contractor/subcontractor is going to be delayed in completing any aspect of its work either due to an Owner’s decision, act or omission, labor shortage, and/or specifically related to the Corona Virus Pandemic, the contractor/subcontractor should give notice to its contracting party immediately.
  • Said notice should describe the length of anticipated delay if known, the reasons for the delay, any strategy for schedule recovery, and the amount of compensation that may be due to the contractor/subcontractor in the event of said delay
• LIQUIDATED DAMAGES: Many contracts allow an Owner to recover liquidated damages for each day of delay on a Project. In the event the project is delayed due to the Pandemic, contractors should immediately notify their contracting party/owner that in such event, you will not be responsible for liquidated damages.
  • Many clauses dealing with delay carve out exceptions for “Acts of God”, and this Pandemic should clearly qualify under this exception.
  • Notify your contracting partners immediately if you anticipate a project delay due to the Pandemic

SUPPLIERS:

• Suppliers must immediately notify their customers of any interruptions in the manufacture of and/or receipt of materials and/or total unavailability due to the Pandemic’s impact on supply lines.
• Suppliers should take caution in accepting large bulk orders and consider agreeing to a phased ordering approach. This would allow more flexibility in the event of a complete supply line disruption, and lessen the potential order backlog and/or inability to complete large orders.

In sum, Owners, Contractors, Subcontractors, and Suppliers should now be in constant communication with each other to lessen the impact of the Pandemic’s disruption to the construction industry. Where appropriate, notices of delays should be issued and suspensions and/or terminations of contracts should be negotiated in such a manner as to fairly reduce the financial losses of the Owners, Contractors, Subcontractors, Vendors, and perhaps most importantly, the lower level employees, staffers and laborers who may suffer the harshest financial consequences of the Pandemic’s impact on the economy.

In addition, in the event of a termination and/or suspension of a project, steps should be taken to protect the work itself and address any potential safety and/or property damage concerns that could arise if work is left incomplete for a lengthy period of time. The prospect that construction projects could sit idle for a substantial period of time is becoming very real, and steps should be taken to reduce any safety hazards and provide protective coverings to avoid property damage that might result from water infiltration or weather events.

Tesser & Cohen is available to assist with handling of this very unique and unpredictable situation, and review your contractual rights, obligations, and options if/when the Pandemic impacts your construction projects.

TESSER & COHEN
946 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
201-343-1100
https://www.tessercohen.com/