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What are your legal remedies when a contractor or subcontractor places an improper lien on property?  Under what circumstances is the contractor or subcontractor liable for $10,000 for filing such a lien?  The Texas mechanic’s lien statute, found in Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code, provides some of the answers.  Among those answers is filing a motion to remove the lien, bonding around the lien, and seeking $10,000 and punitive damages for a fraudulent lien. 1.    Summary Motion The Texas mechanic’s lien statute, in particular Texas Property Code § 53.160, allows for a “summar

When is a contractor who performs work for a governmental entity allowed to share in the state’s immunity from suit?  When can the contractor, not just the King so to speak, do no wrong?  A June 2020 Texas Supreme Court opinion sheds additional light on the issue. 1.     Tic-Tac-Toe The Texas Lottery Commission, an entity entitled to sovereign immunity, contracted with GTECH to manufacture and service instant lottery tickets.  GTECH proposed a “FUN 5” scratch-off game, essentially a tic-tac-toe game with a 5X box that allowed the winner to claim five times the prize amount in the &

When is a force majeure clause specific enough to excuse performance in the COVID-19 era?  We are about to find out. The Republican Party of Texas (“RPT”) recently filed suit against the City of Houston and its Mayor, Sylvester Turner (“Mayor Turner”), Houston First Corporation (“HFC”) and its President, Brenda W. Bazan (collectively the “Houston Defendants”) for cancelling the contract to hold the Texas Republican Convention in Houston between July 13 and 18, 2020.  The City’s action came as Texas consistently posted (and, as of the date of this article, continues to post)

The Texas Supreme Court recently clarified the standards for enforcing liquidated damage provisions.  As these types of provisions are prevalent in design and construction contracts, the Court’s opinion has particular resonance in the construction industry. In Atrium Medical Center, LP v. Houston Red C, LLC, the Court held that liquidated damage provisions, to be enforceable, must be “facially reasonable” and must not create an “unbridgeable discrepancy” between actual and liquidated damages.  The Court also clarified which party bears the burden of proving facial reasonableness an

Lien rights of architects and engineers are not widely publicized and are often forgotten or purposefully not asserted. Some designers do not know they have such rights and others are concerned that asserting them may lead an owner or developer to assert claims for design errors and omissions.  Since the bulk of a designer’s work is typically completed before construction begins, a construction contractor may not even know that the designer has asserted lien rights.  Such knowledge might provide an early clue about the owner’s or developer’s payment habits and telegraph to the contract