Liens and Bonds: Bad Things Happened, Then Good Things Happened
In 2016, bad things happened to the lien rights of subcontractors and suppliers in Missouri because of a bad court decision. Then in 2019, American Subcontractors Association (ASA) and its industry partners made good things happen in the legislature with the passage of a favorable law to overcome the bad court decision. The problem started when the Supreme Court of Missouri unexpectedly ruled that a subcontractor had neither a bond claim nor a mechanic’s lien claim against the real estate owned by a county but leased by it to a private entity to be used by that entity as its corporate headquarters.