Stop-Notice - Rhode Island

RHODE ISLAND LIEN-RELEASE AND DIRECT-PAYMENT DEMAND

Critical Use Warning

Rhode Island Chapter 34-28 does not make this document a pre-lien notice that automatically freezes an owner’s, lender’s, or contractor’s funds. The direct-payment route is narrower:

1. The claimant must be a person entitled to a lien under § 34-28-1, -2, or -3.
2. The claimant releases that lien before receiving payment for the work or materials forming its basis.
3. The claimant first obtains written consent from every person in the line of privity between the claimant and the owner or other proposed payor.
4. The claimant presents a proper demand substantially following § 34-28-29.
5. The owner, lessee, tenant, or other obligated or permitted payor pays if satisfied as to the amount, takes a proper receipt, and receives credit through the line of privity.

Section 34-28-28 addresses unreasonable withholding of the required consent or direct payment and allows natural-and-probable-consequence damages. It supplies no automatic payment deadline, interest-bearing segregation requirement, fixed penalty, or mandatory percentage reserve.

Do not release a lien until counsel has confirmed that the statutory direct-payment path is available, every required consent is effective, and the release will not destroy a remedy the claimant still needs.

PART 1 — COUNSEL ELIGIBILITY AND DEADLINE WORKSHEET

A. Lien Status

• ☐ Claimant is eligible under § 34-28-1, -2, or -3.
• ☐ The § 34-28-4 notice was executed under oath and contains the statutory information.
• ☐ Mailing, delivery, return-mail, recording, and 200-day calculations were reviewed under current § 34-28-4.
• ☐ If the lien was perfected, counsel calculated the § 34-28-10 complaint and lis pendens deadlines.
• ☐ The exact work, materials, dates, and unpaid amount forming the lien basis are documented.
• ☐ No payment, waiver, release, settlement, bankruptcy, bond, priority, or limitations event already changed the claim.

B. Direct-Payment Gate

• ☐ Claimant is prepared to release the lien before receiving direct payment.
• ☐ Every person in the line of privity has been identified.
• ☐ Every intervening person will give written consent before the demand is presented.
• ☐ The proposed payor is an owner, lessee, tenant, or other person obligated or permitted to pay on that party’s behalf.
• ☐ The proposed payor has documents sufficient to become satisfied as to the amount.
• ☐ The demand and receipt will allow payment credit to pass through every person in the line of privity.

C. Separate Alternatives

• ☐ Court-registry cash or surety bond under § 34-28-17 has been evaluated.
• ☐ A payment bond benefiting Claimant under § 34-28-30 has been evaluated.
• ☐ Contract, quantum-meruit, statutory, and other preserved remedies have been evaluated under § 34-28-33.

PART 2 — WRITTEN CONSENTS THROUGH THE LINE OF PRIVITY

PROJECT AND PAYMENT CHAIN

Property: [________________________________]

Owner / lessee / tenant: [________________________________]

Prime contractor: [________________________________]

Intermediate subcontractor or supplier: [________________________________]

Claimant: [________________________________]

Proposed direct payor: [________________________________]

Proposed direct-payment amount: $[________________________________]

CONSENT

The undersigned is a person in the line of privity between Claimant and the proposed direct payor. After reviewing the attached lien release and demand, the undersigned consents under R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-27 to direct payment of $[________________________________] to Claimant.

The undersigned acknowledges that the statute directs that credit be given for a proper direct payment through all persons in the line of privity. Any allocation, offset, retainage, backcharge, tax, joint-check, or contract issue not resolved by this consent is stated here: [________________________________].

This consent does not expand the statutory demand, admit an amount beyond the consent stated, or waive a separate claim unless expressly stated: [________________________________].

PART 3 — LIEN RELEASE

RELEASE OF MECHANICS’ LIEN FOR DIRECT-PAYMENT PROCEDURE

Claimant: [________________________________]

Owner / lessee / tenant: [________________________________]

Property and improvement: [________________________________]

Notice of intention recording information: [________________________________]

Complaint / lis pendens information, if any: [________________________________]

Work or materials forming the released lien basis: [________________________________]

Amount associated with released lien basis: $[________________________________]

Claimant, through the person authorized to bind it on lien matters, releases the mechanics’ lien described above for purposes of the direct-payment procedure in R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-28-27 through -29.

The release is delivered before Claimant receives the requested direct payment. Counsel has reviewed the scope and effect of § 34-28-26, including reliance by a person who changes position based on a signed release. Any claim expressly excluded from this release is: [________________________________].

Claimant: [________________________________]

By: ______________________________

Printed name and title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

PART 4 — DEMAND FOR DIRECT PAYMENT

DEMAND FOR DIRECT PAYMENT UNDER R.I. GEN. LAWS § 34-28-29

To: [NAME OF OWNER, LESSEE, TENANT, OR OTHER OBLIGATED OR PERMITTED PAYOR]

Address: [________________________________]

The undersigned releases the lien against the following improvement and land owned by or leased to [OWNER / LESSEE / TENANT]:

[GENERAL DESCRIPTION SUFFICIENT TO IDENTIFY THE IMPROVEMENT AND LAND]

The released lien concerns the following work or materials:

The undersigned took the following steps to perfect the lien:

[DESCRIBE MAILING, RECORDING, COMPLAINT, LIS PENDENS, OR OTHER ACTUAL STEPS]

The persons in the line of privity between you and the undersigned are:

Each person listed above has endorsed approval of this demand in the attached written consents.

The undersigned demands direct payment of:

$[________________________________]

Supporting invoice, account, contract, change-order, payment, and lien records are attached as: [________________________________].

Claimant: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

By: ______________________________

Printed name and title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

PART 5 — PAYOR REVIEW AND RECEIPT

PAYOR REVIEW

• ☐ Claimant’s lien eligibility and release were reviewed.
• ☐ Every written consent in the line of privity was received.
• ☐ The payor is satisfied as to the amount demanded.
• ☐ Competing liens, garnishments, assignments, offsets, retainage, lender controls, and court orders were checked.
• ☐ The credit to each person in the payment chain is documented.
• ☐ The payment instrument and tax reporting are correctly prepared.

Payor determination:

• ☐ Approved for $[________________________________].
• ☐ Partially approved for $[________________________________] because: [________________________________].
• ☐ Not approved because: [________________________________].
• ☐ More information requested: [________________________________].

RECEIPT FOR DIRECT PAYMENT

Claimant acknowledges direct receipt of $[________________________________] from [PAYOR] on [__/__/____] for the work or materials identified in Part 4.

Payment method and reference: [________________________________]

Remaining balance, if any: $[________________________________]

Claimant: [________________________________]

By: ______________________________

Printed name and title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

CREDIT ACKNOWLEDGMENT THROUGH PRIVITY

PART 6 — COURT CASH OR BOND ROUTE — SEPARATE FROM DIRECT PAYMENT

Under § 34-28-17, after a notice of intention is recorded or an enforcement complaint is filed, the owner, lessee, or tenant may deposit in the proper Superior Court registry:

• cash equal to the total relevant notices, accounts, and demands, including costs, statutory interest, and reasonable lienholder attorney fees; or
• a licensed surety-company bond in that total amount running to the lien claimants.

Discharge follows proper proof, motion, and a court order. If no complaint was filed when the deposit occurred, the claimant must still file against the surety or clerk within § 34-28-10’s time limits. If a complaint was already filed, § 34-28-17(b)(2) requires the lien plaintiff to amend against the surety or clerk within 60 days after notice of the order.

Court route checklist:

• ☐ Correct Superior Court and registry confirmed.
• ☐ Total statutory deposit amount calculated.
• ☐ Surety is licensed in Rhode Island.
• ☐ Motion and proposed discharge order prepared.
• ☐ Claimant’s post-deposit complaint or amendment deadline calendared.
• ☐ Recorded discharge and case-caption consequences reviewed.

PART 7 — REMEDIES AND FEE CAUTIONS

• Section 34-28-28 permits damages that naturally and probably result from unreasonable withholding of required consent or direct payment. Plead and prove causation and amount; do not insert a fixed penalty.
• Section 34-28-19 places proceeding costs in the court’s discretion and permits, but does not mandate, an attorney-fee award to the prevailing party.
• Section 34-28-30 may allow a claimant to sue on a qualifying payment bond even without mailing or filing a § 34-28-4 notice and even if the claimant is not a bond party, subject to the actual bond and current law.
• Section 34-28-33 preserves otherwise available remedies except as specified, but does not itself prove entitlement to consequential damages, an injunction, indemnity, a liability cap, or exclusive venue.

VERIFIED SOURCES

• Rhode Island General Assembly, Chapter 34-28 index
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-4 — Notice of intention
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-10 — Complaint and lis pendens
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-17 — Court-registry cash or bond
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-19 — Costs
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-26 — Subordination or release
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-27 — Direct payment on release
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-28 — Unreasonable withholding damages
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-29 — Statutory demand form
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-30 — Suit on payment bond
• Rhode Island General Assembly, § 34-28-33 — Nonexclusive remedies

This package intentionally does not create owner or lender signatures, a private escrow, a fixed release bond, a three-day response period, indemnity, prevailing-party fees, or a mandatory payment freeze. Those features do not appear in the current Rhode Island provisions verified for this template.