OAR 808-004-0530: Construction Lien Claims

(1) For a construction lien claim to be accepted, the following conditions must be met: (a) The claimant must have paid the respondent in full for the landscape job or paid in full for the materials supplied or equipment rented and the landscape contracting business must have failed to pay the subcontractor or material or equipment supplier, thereby causing the subcontractor or material or equipment supplier to file a lien against the claimant's property; (b) The lienor must have delivered to the claimant a "Notice of the Right to Lien" as specified in ORS 87.018, 87.021 and 87.025; and (c) The lienor must have filed the lien with the recording officer of the county in accordance with ORS 87.035. (2) If the respondent contends that payment has been made to the lienor, either directly or by the return of goods constituting a credit to the respondent's account, the respondent may subpoena the lienor and pertinent records to an arbitration or contested case hearing on a claim processed under this rule in accordance with OAR 808-009-0095. (3) If at any time before the issuance of an order the agency determines that the lien is unenforceable or invalid, the agency must dismiss the claim. Before the proposed order of dismissal is issued by the agency, the lienor must be notified, by certified mail, of the lienor's opportunity to become a party, as that term is defined in ORS 183.310, to the claim and to request arbitration or a hearing. (4) A construction lien claim may include attorney fees, court costs, interest and service charges if these items are included as part of the lien or incurred as costs to discharge the lien. An award to the claim for attorney fees incurred to discharge the lien must not exceed the amount of the lien or $3,000, whichever is less. (5) The agency may reduce the amount awarded to the claimant by: (a) Any amount the claimant owes the landscape contracting business; and (b) Any amount included for tools sold to a landscape contracting business, for equipment sold to the landscape contracting business that is not incorporated into the job site, for interest or service charges on an account or for materials purchased as stock items. (6) If a claimant files two or more claims against the respondent relating to work performed under the same contract and if the claimant has not paid the respondent the full amount of the contract, the amount awarded on each claim will be reduced on a pro rata basis. A proposed or final order may not be issued on a claim until all claims involving the claimant and the respondent filed within the same 90-day period are ready for an order. (7) If an action is filed to enforce a lien that is the subject of a claim, the agency must send notice to the claimant that: (a) The agency will hold the claim open for 60 days from the date of the notice to allow the claimant to file a counter-suit or complaint in the foreclosure action; and (b) The agency may close the claim under section (10) of this rule if the agency does not receive evidence within 60 days from the date of the notice that the claimant filed a complaint as a counter-suit or complaint in the court. (8) Upon timely receipt of evidence that the claimant filed a counter-suit or complaint in the court under paragraph (7)(b) of this rule, the agency must suspend processing the claim and send notice to the claimant of the requirements of OAR 808-004-0520(3). Further processing of the claim must be under OAR 808-004-0520. (9) Time limitations in this rule supersede conflicting time limitations in OAR 808-004-0520. (10) The agency may close a construction lien claim under OAR 808-004-0260 if the agency does not receive evidence that the claimant obtained a stay or filed a counter-suit or complaint within the time limitation in the notice required under section (7) of this rule. (11) If a construction lien claim involves the same facts and issues as any other open claim, the agency must process the claims together.