Attention Insurance Contractors: Law Now Requires Additional Notice About Insurance Deductibles
On May 29, 2018, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed an amendment to the law prohibiting payment or rebate of insurance deductibles on residential construction projects. Minnesota law already stated that a residential contractor providing home repair or improvement services was prohibited from paying, rebating or otherwise compensating a residential property owner for any part of the […]
A Primer for Contractors: Getting Paid — Fact or Fiction?
As a contractor, getting paid for work completed isn’t always as easy as collecting onsite or sending an invoice. Hellmuth & Johnson construction law attorney Blake Nelson answers fact or fiction when it comes to collections, interest and liens and Minnesota state law. It is legal to charge 18% per annum (or 1.5% per month) […]
Who was liable for these three real-world relative humidity claims?
When a wood floor fails because of a relative humidity issue, a common cause of trouble in the industry, someone needs to pay. All the actors begin the blame game in order to protect themselves from liability. The customers point fingers at the installers, the installers at the distributors, and so forth up the chain. […]
Minnesota construction law: Fact or fiction?
Fact or Fiction? It is legal to charge 18% per annum interest to all customers on unpaid balances. Answer: FICTION! In most cases, the maximum interest that may be charged on past-due accounts is 8% per annum if you have a written contract. Fact or Fiction? As subcontractor, if I serve my pre-lien within 45 […]
Flooring employee vs. contractor: Know The difference, not the fine
Businesses in the construction industry have historically relied heavily upon independent contractors to perform work. While it is sometimes clear that a party is a true subcontractor, such as hiring ABC Flooring Inc. or 123 Hardwoods LLC, it is equally as common to misclassify laborers who are legally employees as independent contractors. Why do the […]
What do you mean they’re my employees?
Businesses in the construction industry have historically relied heavily upon independent contractors to perform work. While it is sometimes clear that a party is a true subcontractor, such has hiring ABC Plumbing, Inc. or 123 Electric, LLC, it is equally as common to misclassify laborers who are legally employees as independent contractors. Why do the […]
Limit Your Liability: How to Lessen Risk as a Manufacturer, Distributor, Contractor
Risk is like the flu—no one wants it. Part of any contract negotiation involves attempting to reduce risk and liability. This particularly applies to the flooring industry, where the product has been passed between multiple entities that want to shed their liability when they hand the product to a company further down the supply chain. […]
Cracking the Cayman Islands Code: Successfully Collecting Money from an Off-Shore Bank Account
In the world of collections, obtaining a judgment against a debtor is generally far less than half the battle. Apart from standard collection difficulties (e.g., finding assets to attach and identifying fraudulent transfers), things get exponentially more difficult when a debtor funnels money to an off-shore bank account in a creditor hostile country. Securing a […]
Get the Lead Out: Protecting the Public (and the contractor) from Lead Paint
Are you certified to work on residential property containing lead paint? Are your subcontractors? If not, any work you perform on such properties built before 1978 could subject you to five-digit fines. Is lead paint really that big of a deal? In 1991, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services called lead […]
Know Lead Paint Requirements or Risk Thousands
Are you certified to work on residential property containing lead paint? Are your subcontractors? If not, any work you perform on such properties built before 1978 could subject you to five-digit fines. Lead Paint is a Big Deal In 1991, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services called lead the “number one […]