Our most successful clients understand the importance of sending a preliminary notice at the start of a job (Make Your Notice Work For You). But all of our clients in Wisconsin understand the importance of a secondary notice. In Wisconsin, this secondary notice is called a notice of intent to file a lien. It is a statutory notice that is required 30 days prior to filing a lien against a property. Most of our Wisconsin clients get paid from this notice without filing a lien. It is so effective that we decided to offer a similar notice for states that don’t require the notice, and we call it a non-statutory secondary notice.
The notice is sent to the property owner and hiring party when payment is past due. This notice spells out the fact that payment has not been received, and lays out the intent to file a lien if not paid within a certain period of time.
Think of a secondary notice as a super charged friendly demand letter that gives notice to file a lien if not paid timely. The benefit to both you and the property owner is that sending a secondary notice improves communication and can reduce the need to file a lien and cloud title. We suggest the use of a secondary notice 30 days after your last date of work. This provides enough time to follow with a lien if necessary.
The secondary notice is most effective in the case that funds for your contribution have been released, yet haven’t been received by you. How does the property owner, who has already released funds, know that you haven’t received payment? They don’t, unless you tell them. The secondary notice is a great proactive collection tool that improves communication to the property owner and the hiring party. Try the secondary notice today and get paid faster for the work you’ve done – without clouding titles and hurting relations. Learn more at GetPerfekt.com.
