To say that Tennessee law which governs the rights of contractors and subcontractors to place liens on property is complex and full of potential pitfalls is an understatement. If you are owed money for work or materials, you should consult with a qualified, experienced construction lien attorney as soon as you suspect you may not be paid and may need to use your lien rights. We had one case a few years back where our subcontractor client could have recovered substantially more money if it had only acted a couple of weeks sooner.
In Tennessee, both general contractors (also referred to as “prime contractors”) and subcontractors (also referred to as “remote contractors”) have lien rights in certain situations. To be enforceable and effective, these lien rights must be properly asserted and perfected under the statutes which govern mechanics and materialmen’s liens (“construction liens”) in Tennessee. The rationale behind giving lien rights to contractors and subcontractors is that they should have greater rights and a better chance of collecting their debt than a party to a typical contract because their work or materials increased the value of the owner’s real property.
Keep in mind that, if you are a contractor or subcontractor, even if you never file a lien, you may be able to collect your debt from the party with whom you contracted. Where mechanics and materialmen’s lien make a critical difference for contractors and subcontractors are in those situations in which they have provided work or materials and the party who agreed to pay them cannot or will not pay them. In many of those situations, provided that the contractor or subcontractor has jumped through all of the construction lien law “hoops,” it can recover from the owner of the property with respect to which it provided work or supplied materials.