L&W Supply Corporation v. DeSilva, A-2960-10T2; Appellate Division; opinion by Ashrafi, J.A.D.; decided and approved for publication December 19, 2012. Before Judges Fuentes, Grall and Ashrafi. On appeal from the Law Division, Monmouth County, L-5358-06. DDS No. 11-2-8504 [18 pp.]
The Construction Lien Law, N.J.S.A. 2A:44A-1 to -38, allows a contractor or supplier who is owed payment for its work or materials to file a lien against the real property on which the improvements are constructed. It limits the lien to the amount in the “lien fund,” which, for a supplier, is defined as the lesser of (1) the amount of the prime contract price earned minus amounts already paid by the owner to the prime contractor, or (2) the amount the subcontractor has earned on the subcontract price minus amounts already paid by the prime contractor to the subcontractor. When a lien claim is filed, the owner or prime contractor may pay the amount of a valid claim directly to the claimant and credit that payment against the subcontract price or post a surety bond for 110 percent of the lien amount and release the owner’s property from the claim.
