State mechanic’s lien statutes have one thing in common: a filing period that starts to run on the date the lien claimant last furnished labor or materials to the project. To benefit from this statutory payment remedy, the claimant must strictly adhere to the requirement. No additional entitlement may be asserted after the deadline. But what if the claimant wants to reduce the amount of its lien to make it comport with the proof the claimant is able to offer in support of its payment claim?
A Colorado court recently allowed untimely reductive lien amendments. The reductions did not prove the initial timely lien filing had been “excessive” and therefore invalid. Nor did the late amendments taint the timeliness of the original filing. The reductions simply corrected honest mistakes in the initial payment calculation based upon information the claimant did not discover until after the filing deadline.
The second case in this issue involved the services of a licensed professional at the job site of a public project. Was the professional required by state statute to be registered as a public works contractor? Were the services considered public work?
