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Collections

For contractors seeking relief from non-payment, Finch, Thornton & Baird, LLP offers decades of construction law collections experience throughout California, as well as in Arizona and Nevada.  Our collections attorneys have prosecuted and defended mechanic’s liens for private works, and stop payment notice and payment bond claims for both private and public works with excellent results.  If getting paid is your goal, the office of Finch, Thornton & Baird should be your legal destination.

UNDERSTANDING CONSTRUCTION COLLECTIONS STATUTES INSIDE AND OUT.

There may be no other industry that provides such unique and procedurally-intensive statutory remedies for payment disputes.  Whether to employ a mechanic’s lien, stop payment notice, or payment bond will depend on the circumstances of each project and dispute.  But successful recovery under any of these legal remedies is achieved only by knowing which strategy to deploy combined with a detailed understanding of the very precise statutes and adherence to specified notice and filing requirements.

COLLECTIONS PROSECUTION: THE PATH TO GETTING PAID.

General contractors, design-builders, and construction managers encounter payment delays from project owners.  In turn, trade subcontractors suffer from not being paid their contract balance or for extra work performed for the general contractor or owner.  It is a vicious cycle that often demands legal intervention.  Our collections law attorneys are highly experienced in the diverse statutory remedies that assure aggressive collection of all amounts due and can provide creative solutions to correct client mistakes in statutory compliance.  Most importantly, they excel at securing collections payments through mechanic’s liens, stop payment notices, and payment bonds.

COLLECTIONS DEFENSE: THE LEGAL ART OF ASSET PROTECTION.

The firm’s proven history in prosecuting collections is driven by the learned ability to provide unique defense strategies for payment claims brought by lower-tier subcontractors.  This includes the preparation and presentation of offset claims which allow clients to avoid or reduce liability on otherwise valid payment claims.  A high level of attention to detail, pragmatic cost analysis, and early identification of accounting and claim discrepancies are paramount to success.  So too are our many years of experience working with general contractors to reduce and avoid liability based on discrete fact patterns.

Bottom line, experience, extreme due diligence, creative solutions, and the firm’s aggressive approach empowers our legal team to consistently achieve positive outcomes, minimize client liability, and reduce the time to resolution.  We believe these qualities differentiate us from other construction law firms.

Our expertise with Collections include:

  • Stop payment notice
  • Performance bond
  • Payment bond
  • Mechanic’s lien
  • Resolution of disputes

Firm Forecloses Mechanic’s Lien

The firm sued to foreclose a rooftop solar contractor’s mechanic's lien against a property in…

General Contractor Awarded Completion Costs and Attorneys’ Fees After Subcontractor Abandonment

The firm represented a general contractor in pursuing a plumbing subcontractor and its performance bond…

Real Estate Financier Secures Profitable Investment and Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees

The firm represented a real estate investor who had purchased property on behalf of a…

National Subcontractor Prevails in Mediation versus Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

The firm represented a national subcontractor in multi-party litigation against the prime contractor and its…

Foreclosure of Lien Against Residential Subdivision

The firm sued to foreclose a design professional's lien against a residential subdivision in Riverside…

Prime Trade Contractor Avoids Liquidated Damages Claim

The firm represented a prime trade contractor in a dispute with a school district primarily…

Subcontractor Recovers on Mechanic’s Lien After Summary Judgment Upheld on Appeal

The firm represented a framing subcontractor pursuing its outstanding subcontract balance which had been paid…

General Contractor v. Private Multi-Residential Project Owner

The firm represented the general contractor in pursuit of its contract balance and additional time-related…

Rapid Recovery of Debt and Attorneys’ Fees on Multi-Parcel Foreclosure

The firm obtained a rapid recovery for a financier client on a past-due note secured…

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Policy Premium Collection

The firm represented an insurance company to recover the premium owed for a one-year workers’…

Electrical Subcontractor Recovers Full Payment On Miller Act Claim

The firm represented an electrical subcontractor in a claim for the balance due for work…

HVAC Subcontractor Recovers Payment from General Contractor on Mechanic’s Lien

The firm represented a subcontractor in a claim for recovery on amounts due for work…

Subcontractor v. Owner and Payment Bond Surety

The firm represented a subcontractor seeking recovery of the subcontract balances due for work it…

General Contractor Receives Full Time Extension and Recovers Time-Related Costs After Bungled Design Put Out to Bid

Hundreds of design changes cause 15-month construction delay. The firm represented the general contractor in…

Concrete and Masonry Subcontractor Claim on a Private Project

The firm represented a concrete and masonry subcontractor in a claim for recovery of its…

General Contractor v. Private Mixed-Use Project Owner and OCIP Insurer

The firm represented an ENR Top 50 general contractor to recover the contract balance and…

Structural Concrete Subcontractor Wins Verdict 12-0 v. General Contractor

The Firm represented the structural concrete subcontractor seeking recovery of payment for subcontract balance and…

Structural Concrete Subcontractor v. General Contractor (Luxury Mid-rise Condo Project)

The Firm represented the structural concrete subcontractor seeking recovery of payment for subcontract balance and…

Subcontractor Payment Claim on a Public Project

The Firm represented a subcontractor in a claim for recovery of amounts due for scope…

Supplier Payment Claim on Public Project

The firm represented a material supplier in a claim for recovery of amounts due for…

ProUsys, Inc. v. Taisei-T&K Joint Venture

The firm represented the programming subcontractor in complex, multi-party litigation arising from the expansion of…

Engineered Structures of San Diego, Inc., dba Cairo Construction Company v. CH2M Hill Constructors, Inc. et al.

The firm represented a subcontractor in litigation arising from the construction of a large wastewater…

Subcontractor v. General Contractor, Payment Bond Surety and Public Agency Project Owner

The firm represented a subcontractor in a claim for recovery of subcontract balance and extra…

Recovered Full Amount of Mechanic’s Lien

Legal research revealed that our client had no right to pursue a mechanics' lien. Client's…

Insurance Company – Collections / Judgment Enforcement

​​The firm represented an insurance company and filed multiple lawsuits against customers who failed to…

Brewer Corporation, et. al. v. Point Center Financial, Inc.

On January 31, the Fourth District Court of Appeal followed Familian Corp v. Imperial Bank,…

Public Works: Dismissal After Demurrer Of General Contractor Claim Versus Subcontractor Performance Bond Surety

The Firm defended a performance bond, obtaining a dismissal of the client after filing a…

Defense of Federal Miller Act Claim

The firm’s client was the prime contractor on a federal design-build construction project on a…

Litigation Of General Contractor Mechanic’s Liens Against Commercial Project Owner

The firm represented a general contractor relating to a construction of a charter school in…

General Contractor v. Owner/Lender – Quasi Public Works

The firm represented a general contractor client on a major rehabilitation project involving the redevelopment…

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