Stop-Notice - New York

NOTICE OF UNPAID CONSTRUCTION CLAIM AND REQUEST FOR PAYMENT INFORMATION

(Private improvement — New York; not a statutory stop notice and not a substitute for filing or serving a notice of lien)

1. RECIPIENTS AND PROJECT

Date: [__/__/____]

To Owner: [OWNER NAME AND ADDRESS]

To Contractor: [CONTRACTOR NAME AND ADDRESS]

Copy to Construction Lender (optional): [LENDER NAME AND ADDRESS]

Project: [PROJECT NAME AND STREET ADDRESS]

Claimant: [CLAIMANT LEGAL NAME AND ADDRESS]

Claimant's direct contract is with: [OWNER / CONTRACTOR / SUBCONTRACTOR NAME]

2. NOTICE OF UNPAID CLAIM

Claimant furnished the labor, services, equipment, or materials described below for the Project and states that $[AMOUNT] remains unpaid as of [__/__/____].

Total claimed unpaid: $[____________]

Claimant requests prompt review and payment of the amount that the recipient determines is properly due. This notice does not add attorney fees, a percentage reserve, statutory penalties, or other sums not independently recoverable under the contract or applicable law.

3. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION AND VOLUNTARY PAYMENT PROTECTION

Claimant requests, without representing that this notice compels withholding, that the recipients:

1. identify any factual or contractual dispute concerning the claim;
2. state whether funds remain due or may become due in the relevant contract chain;
3. provide the name and contact information of the person handling payment resolution;
4. preserve project payment records and, if a recipient is an Article 3-A trustee, the trust books and records required by Lien Law § 75; and
5. consider a voluntary joint check, escrow, payment agreement, or other written resolution approved by all necessary parties and counsel.

No owner, lender, contractor, or surety becomes a signatory, fiduciary, indemnitor, or guarantor merely by receiving this notice.

4. LIEN-LAW RESERVATION

For a private improvement, Lien Law § 4 addresses the property interest reached by a mechanic's lien and limits a contractor- or subcontractor-tier lien to the amount earned and unpaid on the relevant contract when the notice of lien is filed, plus sums later earned. It does not create a freestanding demand that this letter can enforce against an owner or lender.

If Claimant is eligible to assert a mechanic's lien, the statutory instrument is a notice of lien that must satisfy Lien Law § 9, be filed under § 10, and be served under § 11. This letter is not that notice, does not perfect a lien, and does not extend any deadline.

Lien Law § 70 separately makes specified construction funds and rights to payment trust assets. Section 71 identifies trust beneficiaries, and § 72 defines diversion. Whether Claimant is a beneficiary, whether a diversion occurred, and what relief is available require a transaction-specific analysis; this notice does not itself freeze a bank or loan account.

Claimant reserves only rights that actually exist under the contract and applicable law. Nothing here creates a private default, five-day cure period, automatic injunction, attorney-fee right, lender liability, or fixed-percentage bond requirement.

5. CLAIMANT CERTIFICATION

I certify that I am authorized to send this notice for Claimant and that the attached claim information is accurate to the best of my knowledge after reasonable review.

Claimant: [CLAIMANT LEGAL NAME]

By: ________________________________

Name: [AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY]

Title: [TITLE]

Date: [__/__/____]

ATTACHMENTS

☐ Contract or subcontract excerpts

☐ Invoices and payment ledger

☐ Approved change orders

☐ Delivery tickets or work records

☐ Prior payment communications

☐ Draft or filed notice of lien reviewed separately by New York counsel

Sources and References

• N.Y. Lien Law § 4: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE4
• N.Y. Lien Law § 5: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE5
• N.Y. Lien Law § 9: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE9
• N.Y. Lien Law § 10: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE10
• N.Y. Lien Law § 11: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE11
• N.Y. Lien Law § 19: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE19
• N.Y. Lien Law § 70: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE70
• N.Y. Lien Law § 71: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE71
• N.Y. Lien Law § 72: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE72
• N.Y. Lien Law § 75: https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/LIE75