Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Reminder: Just Being Incorporated Isn’t Enough

June 29, 2020 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
I have discussed why contractors need to incorporate previously here at Construction Law Musings. Among the many reasons to incorporate are possible tax benefits and the protection of personal assets (like your house and your dog) from judgement and collection actions. This latter reason is key in the construction world in which Murphy can look like an optimist and projects have so many moving parts that something is likely to go wrong. The reason incorporation works as at least a partial shield is that the company and the owners are separate “people” or entities from a legal perspective and a contract with one “person” cannot be enforced against another. This same logic applies in the context of corporate versus individual actions, i. e. the actions of one person cannot be legally attributed to another person. By extension the assets of an individual cannot be collected to satisfy a purely corporate debt or judgment. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Chinese Lead $92 Billion of U.S. Home Sales to Foreigners

July 09, 2014 — John Gittelsohn – Bloomberg
Foreigners purchased $92.2 billion of U.S. homes in the 12 months through March, led by buyers from China, according to the National Association of Realtors. Spending by Chinese buyers soared 72 percent from a year earlier to $22 billion, with their purchases accounting for 24 percent of spending by international buyers, the trade association said today from Washington. Total investments by foreigners jumped 35 percent. Chinese buyers acquired 16 percent of houses sold to foreigners, up 4 percentage points, spurred by currency appreciation, rising affluence and concerns about an economic slowdown in the world’s most-populous country, the group said. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of John Gittelsohn, Bloomberg
Mr. Gittelsohn may be contacted at johngitt@bloomberg.net

House Panel Subpoenas VA Documents on Colorado Project

September 22, 2016 — Tom Ichniowski - Engineering News-Record
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs has received a subpoena from the House Veterans Affairs Committee, asking for more information about the VA’s long-delayed, far over-budget hospital under construction in Aurora, Colo. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tom Ichniowski, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Ichniowski may be contacted at ichniowskit@enr.com

Considerations in Obtaining a Mechanic’s Lien in Maryland (Don’t try this at home)

February 23, 2016 — Christopher G. Hill – Construction Law Musings
For this week’s Guest Post Friday at Construction Law Musings I welcome Matthew Evans. Matt is the owner of Law Offices of Matthew S. Evans, III, LLC located in Annapolis, Maryland. He has practiced construction, real estate and land use law in Maryland and D.C. for thirteen years. Prior to opening his own firm in May 2011, Mr. Evans was a partner at a mid-sized firm in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Mr. Evans lives in Historic Annapolis (only three short blocks from his office) with his wife Margaret, and three children, Matthew (5), Bo (4) and Peyton (2). Some of the most common calls I get are from irate contractor or subcontractor clients who have not been paid demanding that I “lien the property”. Many times after calming the client down, I determine, to their dismay, that they are not entitled to a mechanic’s lien. In Maryland, the mechanic’s lien law is driven by statute, which contains specific requirements which must be met before the client is entitled to a lien. The first question is whether the contractor or subcontractor is entitled to a lien for the work performed. Under Maryland law, “every building erected and every building repaired, rebuilt, or improved to the extent of 15 percent of its value is subject to establishment of a lien…for the payment of all debts.” It’s easy when dealing with new construction. No matter how small your portion of the work, the property is subject to the establishment of a lien. It is more difficult to determine entitlement when there is either a total or partial renovation or other work. The question becomes how do you determine the value of the building, and whether it has been improved “to the extent of 15 percent of its value.” Believe me, I have seen creative and some not so creative methods of calculation used by counsel to prove that certain work does or does not meet the requirement. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher G. Hill, Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Bidder Be Thoughtful: The Impacts of Disclaimers in Pre-Bid Reports

August 04, 2021 — Joshua A. Morehouse - ConsensusDocs
When bidding a project, subsurface or latent site conditions that are not immediately apparent can massively impact the costs of performance to general contractors. Were contractors required to bid on projects without any information on pre-existing conditions, they would need either to be assured that any additional costs would be reimbursed by the owner, or to include significant contingencies for subsurface conditions in their bids. For owners, these options result in either increased risk or increased cost—neither of which is particularly palatable. Owners therefore implement several contractual tools to minimize these risks and costs. One of these tools is providing bidders with a report on latent conditions, often called a “geotechnical data report” or “GDR”, but otherwise shifting as much of the subsurface-related risk as possible to the contractor. In theory, these reports permit contractors to appropriately adjust their contingencies for latent conditions, thus saving owners money. However, several independent and thorny issues arise where site reports provided by the owner are either inconsistent with or silent on the actual conditions of a project site. Hence owners often include disclaimers with these reports, such as noting that the report is for “informational purposes only” or that the report is “not part of the contract documents." Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Joshua A. Morehouse, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Morehouse may be contacted at jmorehouse@pecklaw.com

Cost of Materials Holding Back Housing Industry

June 28, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
As home building makes its recovery, there’s another hurdle to overcome: the cost of building materials. The Toledo Blade reports that the rise in the costs of materials makes homes built this year several thousands of dollars more expensive than those built last year. One builder, James Moline, said that he “ended up eating some of the lumber prices on a deal this spring because lumber prices went up so much.” The cost of framing lumber has increased by about two-thirds, while the cost of strand board has more than doubled. Happily, material costs seem to have hit their high and in recent months have started to lower. The rise, according to Robert Denk, a senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, is due to suppliers cutting back on capacity when demand dwindled, and despite the increase in building starts, suppliers have yet to bring that capacity back. Read the court decision
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As Recovery Continues, Home Improvement Stores Make Sales

August 27, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Need another sign of the housing recovery? Lowe’s stock price is up. Bloomberg News reports that the home-improvement retailer rose by 88 cents a share in the last quarter. Analysts had predicted gains of 79 cents a share, and the same quarter last year saw profits of 64 cents a share. The increase in profits come from more purchases and higher spending per purchase. While Lowe’s negotiated some better prices with vendors and dropped some items that weren’t selling, none of the profits came from staff reduction; the retailer actually increased staffing. Home Depot, the largest such chain (Lowe’s is number 2), also saw profits that exceeded analysts’ projections. They, too, have decided to focus on assisting customers. Their increase in profits was attributed to greater spending by contractors and homeowners. Read the court decision
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The Contributors to This Blog Are Pleased to Announce That….

November 02, 2017 — Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
Snell & Wilmer’s Real Estate Litigation Group, which provides the content for The Real Estate Litigation Blog, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized in both the national and metropolitan rankings by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers for the 2018 edition of “Best Law Firms.” We achieved the following rankings:

National Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
Phoenix (AZ) Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
Utah Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
Colorado Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
Reno (NV) Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
Tucson (AZ) Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate

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SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES