united-states contract-law business public-law
Can I lien a public building in the U.S. or how to collect on a judgment against a public entity?
<p>I have a signed contract and performed the work, but the public entity refuses to pay the invoice. My contract stipulates an interest rate for non-payment, which I have been adding to each invoice (interest on interest) for the past 11 months. </p>

<p>The contract has a termination clause for both parties. They sent me notice last month that they are terminating the contract with 7 days notice, (as per contract).</p>

<p>The contract has an arbitration clause, which I assume I still must go to arbitration. If I'm successful with arbitration, which is probably expensive, how do I get my money?</p>

<p>Usually, you cannot place a mechanic's lien on public property. But, construction projects on public property generally have to be bonded and the bonding company is usually stated either in the contract or in a public document authorizing the project.</p>

<p>So, instead of placing a lien on the property, one makes a claim against the public works bond in a very similar manner. The first time you do this, you need a lawyer, because both the formalities of the bond claim document and the timing are often very particular with very short statutes of limitations (week or months, not years) although once you learn the process, you can probably make the initial bond claim yourself, although you would need a lawyer to bring suit to enforce it if the bonding company doesn't pay the claim without complaint.</p>
