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Attorney Fees for Idaho Liens
Recently, in the case of Magleby v. Jenks Brothers Inc., the Idaho Supreme Court entered a decision concerning the allowance of attorney fees when a default judgment is taken on a mechanics lien claim. In Magleby, the trial court only granted the contractors attorney fees for the amount stated in the complaint. The judge concluded that the contractor was not entitled to an additional amount beyond what was specifically stated in the complaint. However, the contractors attorney argued that while this decision would be appropriate where a default was entered after simply 20 days, in this particular case there was a great deal of settlement conversation and communication together with changes in parties before a final judgment was actually entered. As a result of that the contractor’s attorney put in a substantial amount of work and charged the necessary fees in order to try and bring the case to a conclusion.
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Idaho Lien Law: Listing Defendants in Lien Foreclosure Lawsuits
Recently, in the case of Parkwest Homes, LLC vs. Barnson, 294 Pacific 3d 1125 (Idaho 2012), the Idaho Supreme Court reaffirmed the long standing position that a valid lien timely filed may still be lost as to certain parties, if, when the lawsuit foreclosing the lien is filed, the owner, lenders, other lien claimants, and any person with a claim to title is not included as a defendant in the lawsuit.
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Utah Construction Lien Laws: Lien Legislation 2013
On Monday, February 11, 2013 a committee of representatives from the Construction, Banking and Title Industry met to discuss changes to the State Construction Registry and other Lien and Bond laws. As a result of the discussions, changes are going to be made to the operation of the Utah State Construction Registry for allowing Banks to payoff Preliminary Notices which have been filed before a Construction Loan has closed. Additionally, since the State Construction Registry fails to adequately provide for operation of projects where multiple parcels are included in one project or where one parcel includes multiple projects, changes will be made to the State Construction Registry to allow General Contractors and Banks to know and understand the specific Preliminary Notices applying to individual construction projects and to be able to manage their risks appropriately.
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