The Fight to Protect Seattle’s Builders from Disappearing Contractors

Mr. G. E. Pratt, an attorney, has drawn for the special legislative committee of the Chamber of Commerce a lien law, which will probably be introduced into the legislature by Senator Frink. The bill is based on the Illinois law, which has been found to work very satisfactorily, but a number of changes have been introduced by Mr. Pratt to make the law conform to the special conditions existing in this state.

'The meat of this law,' said Mr. Pratt, 'is in section 31. The practical operation of the measure has already abundantly proved its efficiency in protecting the owner, the contractor, the man who supplies the material and the workman. The first twenty-five sections will meet with no opposition, but I expect that the latter sections will be antagonized by contractors who are either dishonest or incompetent. It prevents a contractor from getting the money and then running away and leaving in the lurch his workmen or those who supplied material.'

Under the new proposed rules, owners could retain money due to a contractor to pay off subcontractors and material suppliers directly if they had not been paid. If a contractor failed to provide a sworn statement of what was owed to his laborers, he would lose his own right to sue the owner, effectively forcing transparency in the payment chain.