Senate Bill 548 Summary

• Amends the Construction Lien Act to allow residential property owners or lessees to file an affidavit with the court indicating they paid the contractor, which prevents a construction lien from attaching to the extent of payments made.

• Requires the affidavit to include proof of payment (canceled checks, credit card receipts, etc.), the contract, change orders, a statement that the owner did not collude with anyone to obtain payment from the fund, and cooperation with the department in defending the fund.

• Permits contractors and subcontractors who are precluded from enforcing a lien due to the owner's affidavit to recover from the Construction Lien Fund if they meet nine specified conditions, including proof of payment by the owner and reasonable efforts to collect from the contractor.

• Requires suppliers seeking to recover from the fund to demonstrate they conducted credit checks on contractors before extending credit without advance payment, with stricter requirements for contractors less than 4 years old.

• Modifies lien foreclosure requirements so that only fund members must join the fund as a defendant; non-member lien claimants are not required to serve the fund administrator or join the fund in foreclosure actions.