Public Act 103-0827
 
HB4660 EnrolledLRB103 38254 JRC 68389 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Mechanics Lien Act is amended by changing 
Sections 5, 21, and 24 as follows:
 
    (770 ILCS 60/5)  (from Ch. 82, par. 5)
    Sec. 5. Statement of contractor and persons furnishing 
labor, services, material, fixtures, apparatus or machinery, 
forms or form work notice to owner of owner-occupied 
single-family residence waiver; size of type. 
    (a) It shall be the duty of the contractor to give the 
owner, and the duty of the owner to require of the contractor, 
before the owner or the owner's his agent, architect, or 
superintendent shall pay or cause to be paid to the contractor 
or to the contractor's his order any moneys or other 
consideration due or to become due to the contractor, or make 
or cause to be made to the contractor any advancement of any 
moneys or any other consideration, a statement in writing, 
under oath or verified by affidavit, of the names and 
addresses of all parties furnishing labor, services, material, 
fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work and of 
the amounts due or to become due to each. Merchants and dealers 
in materials only shall not be required to make statements 
required in this Section.
    (b) The following shall apply to an owner-occupied 
single-family residence:
        (i) Each contractor shall provide the owner or the 
    owner's his or her agent, either as part of the contract or 
    as a separate printed statement given before the owner or 
    the owner's his agent makes the first payment for labor, 
    materials, fixtures, or apparatus or machinery, the 
    following notice in at least 10 point boldface type:
        "THE LAW REQUIRES THAT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUBMIT A 
    SWORN STATEMENT OF PERSONS FURNISHING LABOR, SERVICES, 
    MATERIAL, FIXTURES, APPARATUS OR MACHINERY, OR FORMS OR 
    FORM WORK BEFORE ANY PAYMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE MADE TO 
    THE CONTRACTOR."
        If the owners of the property are persons living 
    together, the aforesaid statement is conclusively presumed 
    given to each such owners if given to one of them.
        (ii) (Blank). Each subcontractor who has furnished, or 
    is furnishing, labor, services, material, fixtures, 
    apparatus or machinery, forms or form work in order to 
    preserve his lien, shall notify the occupant either 
    personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, 
    addressed to the occupant or his agent at the residence 
    within 60 days from his first furnishing labor, services, 
    material, fixtures, apparatus or machinery, forms or form 
    work, of his agreement to do so.
        The notice shall contain the name and address of the 
    subcontractor or material man, the date he started to work 
    or to deliver materials, the type of work done and to be 
    done or the type of labor, services, material, fixtures, 
    apparatus or machinery, forms or form work delivered and 
    to be delivered, and the name of the contractor requesting 
    the work. The notice shall also contain the following 
    warning:
    
"NOTICE TO OWNER
         The subcontractor providing this notice has performed 
    work for or delivered material to your home improvement 
    contractor. These services or materials are being used in 
    the improvements to your residence and entitle the 
    subcontractor to file a lien against your residence if the 
    labor, services, material, fixtures, apparatus or 
    machinery, forms or form work are not paid for by your home 
    improvement contractor. A lien waiver will be provided to 
    your contractor when the subcontractor is paid, and you 
    are urged to request this waiver from your contractor when 
    paying for your home improvements."
        (iii) (Blank). The statement and the notices required 
    by subdivisions (b)(i) and (b)(ii) of this Section shall 
    be in at least 10 point boldface type. For purposes of this 
    Section, notice by certified mail is considered served at 
    the time of its mailing. Any notice given pursuant to 
    subdivision (b)(ii) of this Section after 60 days by the 
    subcontractor, however, shall preserve his or her lien, 
    but only to the extent that the owner has not been 
    prejudiced by payments made before receipt of the notice. 
(Source: P.A. 94-627, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
    (770 ILCS 60/21)  (from Ch. 82, par. 21)
    Sec. 21. Subcontractor Sub-contractor defined; lien of 
subcontractor sub-contractor; notice; size of type; service of 
notice; amount of lien; default by contractor. 
    (a) Subject to the provisions of Section 5, every 
mechanic, worker, or other person who shall furnish any labor, 
services, material, fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms 
or form work for the contractor, or shall furnish any material 
to be employed in the process of construction as a means for 
assisting in the erection of the building or improvement in 
what is commonly termed form or form work where concrete, 
cement, or like material is used in whole or in part, shall be 
known under this Act as a subcontractor sub-contractor, and 
shall have a lien for the value thereof, with interest on such 
amount from the date the same is due, from the same time, on 
the same property as provided for the contractor, and, also, 
as against the creditors and assignees, and personal and legal 
representatives of the contractor, on the material, fixtures, 
or apparatus or machinery furnished, and on the moneys or 
other considerations due or to become due from the owner under 
the original contract.
    (b) If the legal effect of a provision in any contract 
between the owner and contractor or contractor and 
subcontractor is that no lien or claim may be filed or 
maintained, or that such contractor's lien shall be 
subordinated to the interests of any other party, and the 
provision is not prohibited by this Act, such provision shall 
be binding if made as part of an agreement not prohibited by 
this Act.
    (c) It shall be the duty of each subcontractor who has 
furnished, or is furnishing, labor, services, material, 
fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work for an 
existing owner-occupied single family residence, in order to 
preserve the subcontractor's his lien, to notify the occupant 
either personally or by certified mail, return receipt 
requested, addressed to the occupant or the occupant's his 
agent of the residence within 60 days from the subcontractor's 
his first furnishing labor, services, material, fixtures, 
apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work, that the 
subcontractor he is supplying labor, services, material, 
fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work 
provided, however, that any notice given after 60 days by the 
subcontractor shall preserve the subcontractor's his lien, but 
only to the extent that the owner has not been prejudiced by 
payments made prior to receipt of the notice. The notification 
shall include a warning to the owner that before any payment is 
made to the contractor, the owner should receive a waiver of 
lien executed by each subcontractor who has furnished labor, 
services, material, fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms 
or form work.
    The notice shall contain the name and address of the 
subcontractor or material supplier man, the date the 
subcontractor or material supplier he started to work or to 
deliver materials, the type of work done and to be done or the 
type of labor, services, materials, fixtures, apparatus or 
machinery, or forms or form work delivered and to be 
delivered, and the name of the contractor requesting the work. 
The notice shall also contain the following warning:
"NOTICE TO OWNER
    The subcontractor providing this notice has performed work 
for or delivered material to your home improvement contractor. 
These services or materials are being used in the improvements 
to your residence and entitle the subcontractor to file a lien 
against your residence if the labor, services, or materials, 
fixtures, apparatus or machinery, or forms or form work are 
not paid for by your home improvement contractor. A lien 
waiver will be provided to your contractor when the 
subcontractor is paid, and you are urged to request this 
waiver from your contractor when paying for your home 
improvements."
    Such warning shall be in at least 10 point bold face type. 
For purposes of this Section, notice by certified mail is 
considered served at the time of its mailing.
    (d) In no case, except as hereinafter provided, shall the 
owner be compelled to pay a greater sum for or on account of 
the completion of such house, building, or other improvement 
than the price or sum stipulated in said original contract or 
agreement, unless payment be made to the contractor or to the 
contractor's his order, in violation of the rights and 
interests of the persons intended to be benefited by this Act: 
Provided, if it shall appear to the court that the owner and 
contractor fraudulently, and for the purpose of defrauding 
subcontractors sub-contractors fixed an unreasonably low price 
in their original contract for the erection or repairing of 
such house, building, or other improvement, then the court 
shall ascertain how much of a difference exists between a fair 
price for labor, services, material, fixtures, apparatus or 
machinery, or forms or form work used in said house, building 
or other improvement, and the sum named in said original 
contract, and said difference shall be considered a part of 
the contract and be subject to a lien. But where the 
contractor's statement, made as provided in Section 5, shows 
the amount to be paid to the subcontractor sub-contractor, or 
party furnishing material, or the subcontractor's 
sub-contractor's statement, made pursuant to Section 22, shows 
the amount to become due for material; or notice is given to 
the owner, as provided in Sections 24 and 25, and thereafter 
such subcontractor sub-contract shall be performed, or 
material to the value of the amount named in such statements or 
notice, shall be prepared for use and delivery, or delivered 
without written protest on the part of the owner previous to 
such performance or delivery, or preparation for delivery, 
then, and in any of such cases, such subcontractor 
sub-contractor or party furnishing or preparing material, 
regardless of the price named in the original contract, shall 
have a lien therefor to the extent of the amount named in such 
statements or notice. In case of default or abandonment by the 
contractor, the subcontractor sub-contractor or party 
furnishing material, shall have and may enforce the 
subcontractor's his lien to the same extent and in the same 
manner that the contractor may under conditions that arise as 
provided for in Section 4 of this Act, and shall have and may 
exercise the same rights as are therein provided for the 
contractor.
    (e) Any provision in a contract, agreement, or 
understanding, when payment from a contractor to a 
subcontractor or supplier is conditioned upon receipt of the 
payment from any other party including a private or public 
owner, shall not be a defense by the party responsible for 
payment to a claim brought under Section 21, 22, 23, or 28 of 
this Act against the party. For the purpose of this Section, 
"contractor" also includes subcontractor or supplier. The 
provisions of Public Act 87-1180 shall be construed as 
declarative of existing law and not as a new enactment.
(Source: P.A. 98-764, eff. 7-16-14.)
 
    (770 ILCS 60/24)  (from Ch. 82, par. 24)
    Sec. 24. Written notice by subcontractor sub-contractor; 
service; when notice not necessary; form of notice. 
    (a) Subcontractors Sub-contractors, or parties furnishing 
labor, materials, fixtures, apparatus, machinery, or services, 
may at any time after making his or her contract with the 
contractor, and shall within 90 days after the completion 
thereof, or, if extra or additional work or material is 
delivered thereafter, within 90 days after the date of 
completion of such extra or additional work or final delivery 
of such extra or additional material, cause a written notice 
of his or her claim and the amount due or to become due 
thereunder, to be provided to the owner of record or the owner 
of record's agent or architect, or the superintendent having 
charge of the building or improvement and to the lending 
agency, if known, with the written notice to be sent by: (i) 
registered or certified mail, with return receipt requested; 
(ii) a nationally recognized delivery company with tracking 
service; or (iii) personal service. Notice shall be considered 
served at the time the written notice is placed with the 
delivery service or in the mail. The , and delivery limited to 
addressee only, to or personally served on the owner of record 
or his agent or architect, or the superintendent having charge 
of the building or improvement and to the lending agency, if 
known; and such notice shall not be necessary when the sworn 
statement of the contractor or subcontractor provided for 
herein shall serve to give the owner notice of the amount due 
and to whom due, but where such statement is incorrect as to 
the amount, the subcontractor or material man named shall be 
protected to the extent of the amount named therein as due or 
to become due to him or her. For purposes of this Section, 
notice by registered or certified mail is considered served at 
the time of its mailing.
    The form of such notice may be as follows: To (name of 
owner): You are hereby notified that I have been employed by 
(the name of contractor) to (state here what was the contract 
or what was done, or to be done, or what the claim is for) 
under his or her contract with you, on your property at (here 
give substantial description of the property) and that there 
was due to me, or is to become due (as the case may be) 
therefor, the sum of $.....
    Dated at .... this .... day of ....., .....
(Signature).....
    (b) The serving of notice pursuant to subsection (a) of 
this Section shall not constitute an admission by the lien 
claimant that its status is that of subcontractor if it is 
later determined that the party with whom the lien claimant 
contracted was the owner or an agent of the owner. 
(Source: P.A. 94-627, eff. 1-1-06.)