Lien Agents
Dear Kyra and Kevin*,
When we build a new home or renovate and expand an existing home, we are required to appoint a Lien Agent on your behalf, typically when we apply for a building permit. A Lien Agent is a title insurance company or title insurance agent licensed to do business in North Carolina who has registered with the North Carolina Department of Insurance as a Lien Agent.
A Potential Lien Claimant is a person or entity entitled to claim a lien for improvements to the real property if not paid. (i.e., contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, landscapers, surveyors, developers, graders, pavers, electricians, water/sewer/curb & gutter installers, those involved in demolition, or any other person or entity who contracts to furnish labor, services, materials or rental equipment for improvements).
Some of our vendors and trade partners will file a Notice to Lien Agent informing the Lien Agent that the Potential Lien Claimant has, is, or may be providing labor, services or materials for improvements to the property identified, and through whom they are contracting. You'll see an automated communication from the Lien Agent when this happens that can be disconcerting. Some clients have (quite reasonably) interpreted this notice as a notice of a lien against their property, rather than a notice to the Lien Agent as a Potential Lien Claimant. When you see these notices, it is for your information and a normal part of the process.
We make this commitment (excerpt from our contract): "BUILDER will furnish, construct, set in place, and deliver to OWNER, free from all liens and charges and in a good, substantial, thorough, and workmanlike manner in compliance with all applicable codes and regulations, the following work, hereinafter called PROJECT." We take this commitment very seriously and have delivered on this promise for decades. In other words, we've got this! Your project will be free from all liens.
Respectfully,
Randall Lanou
Company Lead
P.S. I am only two degrees from Kevin Bacon!
*Full disclosure: not only have we never worked for Kyra Sedgewick and Kevin Bacon, we've never actually met them. Indeed, I'm not sure we've ever been in the same city at the same time. They seem like fun people, though, and we would be happy to build a home for them. If any of you are close friends with them, we would be grateful for an introduction!