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Show " Sunday, December 3, 13S The Daily Herald Lien . .nay be needed to get paid for work run a small QUESTION: business installing doors and windows. Recently I did a job for a general contractor on a number of buildings. When I asked the contractor for payment, he told me he was having financial troubles and would pay me when he could. He has continued to give me excuses and, though I am sympathetic, I need the money. U' can I do to get paid for my work? A Matter of Law ANSWER: Your options could include suing the contractor himself andor placing a mechanics' lien on the property where you provided the work. Depending on the amount that is owed to you, you may be able to bring suit in small claims court (under $5,000). You could claim the contractor has breached the contract with you by failing to pay you for work that has been completed. A written contract would be nice, but an oral contract is still binding. It is just harder to prove, but your testimony is admissible evidence. Unless agreed otherwise, if the contractor fails to pay his subcontractors and suppliers within 30 days from when the owner paid the contractor or within the time period the payment is due under the terms of the billing, whichever is later, the subcontractor is entitled to l percent interest per month and reasonable costs and attorney's fees. Often, contractors or subcontractors in your position will consider placing a mechanics' lien on the property where the work was completed or materials or services were provided. The purpose of the lien statutes is to protect those who have added directly to the value of property. In other words, mechanics' liens are designed to prevent the landowner from taking the benefit of improvements placed on his property without paying for the labor and materials that went into it. A mechanics' lien must be done correctly to be effective. A notice to claim the lien must be filed with the county recorder of the county where the property is located. It must be done second-degre- der their right to sue employers and instead rely on the employer's insurance company to fairly process claims and decide compensation, Durham noted. "Thus, injured employees are particularly vulnerable to delaying h tactics and other acts by workers' compensation insurers." Workers' compensation is a state-rumandatory insurance system designed to pay benefits for the more than 80,000 Utah workers injured each year at work. The state Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by Pat Christine Savage, a former Jordan School District bus driver injured in a 1987 collision. She claimed she endured nine months ance company for unfairly delaying or denying benefits, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled. Allowing employees to file such lawsuits "could do substantial harm to the workers' compensation system," Chief Justice Michael Zimmerman said in a split decision on Friday. But dissenting Justices Christine Durham and I. Daniel Stewart within 90 days from when the last person performed labor or services or last furnished equipment or material for a residence. If not a residence, it must be within 90 days of final' completion of the original contract. The notice must contain the names of the ow ner of the property and the person by whom you were employed or to whom you furnished equipment or materials. You must also state the time when the first and last bad-fait- n, said they would support such lawsuits if a worker could show an insurer knowingly or recklessly acted unreasonably. Under Utah's workers' compensation system, employees surren labor, service, equipment or material was provided and a description of the property that is sufficient to identify it. You must sign this notice and either deliver or mail by certified mail a copy of the notice to the owner of the real property involved. If you do not send this notice correctly, you lose your right to an award of costs and attorneys' fees when you try to enforce the lien. To enforce the lien, you need to file an action (start a lawsuit) within 2 months from the date of final completion of the contract, if the property is not residential. Residential property must first be dealt with through the Residence Lien Restriction and Lien Recovery Fund Act. A residence is defined as a single family dwelling or multifamily, in "writhing pain" while Educators Insurance- - Co. refused to approve a spinal implant recommended by three physicians. The Riverton woman filed a claim with the Utah Industrial Commission, which adjudicates appeals. No hearing was held because Educators Insurance settled and paid for the implant. In deciding whether Savage could sue over the delay, Zimmerman examined her legal relationship to the insurance company. Educators Insurance owed its contractual duties to the school district, not Savage, Zimmerman said. So Savage cannot sue the insurer for allegedly violating its contract with the school district. (A If the law were interpreted' .otjv erwise, Zimmerman said, a surge of lawsuits could harm the overall workers' compensation system, Also, Educators would have arj "unresolvable conflict" between, its duty to the district and a duty to Savage. v' "An insurer cannot be expected to zealously protect the interests of two parties with diametrical'ly , opposed interests," he said. Employees can appeal to ,th Industrial Commission. Companies or insurers who fail to make payments without good cause also can be referred to the state Insur ance Department. Employers whp violate state insurance laws can be prosecuted for a misdemeanor.,. s , .. Computer users oppose cos of data transmission system 1 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Some Utah computer users believe US West's proposed fee for a new high-spee- d data transmission system is too high, and they plan to ISDN in Utah; we can't let US challenge it. The system, called Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN), would allow computer data transmission at about 128 kilobits per should be upset about the proposal. "This will affect the way you do phone service," he said. With ISDN, a switching box converts an ordinary phone wire from analog to digital transfer. That immediately gives the wire much higher capability, such as the ability to serve two telephones from the same line and speed data by computer at much higher rates. An ordinary phone can be plugged into an ISDN line, plus a fax machine and a computer modem, he said. State officials are excited about the system's high-tec- h possibilities, but are not taking a position in the brewing controversy. "We believe ISDN does present a really interesting opportunity for our citizens and businesses to connect to the Internet and so forth with fairly high band capacity," said LaVarr Webb, Gov. Mike Leavitt's deputy for policy. "We want it to happen at the best cost and highest capacity possible." The Public Service Commission is planning to hold a scheduling conference on Tuesday when a public hearing date will be set so citizens can comment on the proposal. four times the speed second West of modem, which is 28.8 kilobits. With ISDN, three different data transmissions, including fax messages, computer transmissions and telephone conversations, can flash along the same copper wire at the same time. US West is proposing to offer up to two units. If you fall within the act's parameters, then your recovery will come from that fund. If you cannot obtain relief through the act, then you must file the action to enforce the lien within 80 days from the date you last provided labor, services, equipment or materials. If successful in enforcing your lien, the court can cause the property to be sold to satisfy the lien. Between owners and contractors, the court shall decide who is entitled to costs. In all cases, subcontractors are entitled to have their costs the service at two "measured options," based on amount of use, e and one option. The measured options are $45 per month flat-rat- plus a charge for light users, or $74 a month for up to 200 hours of usage a month. per-minu- 1 te The measured options would meet the needs of more than 95 percent of ISDN customers, said US West spokesman Duane e Cooke. The option, designed for heavy users, would be $190 a month with unlimited flat-rat- usage. Cooke said the proposal is comparable with other offerings. But Vince Hadley, a University of Utah student who is leading the opposition to US West's plan, said the proposal is "without exception the highest in the country." One Internet service provider sent messages to its subscribers complaining about the plan and calling on them to contact the Utah awarded. This includes the costs and attorney's fees for preparing and recording the orisinal notice of claim of lien. 1'his column is for general information only. Individual facts will vary the advice given. DO NOT RELY on this information without consulting an attorney. Public Lorie D. Fowlke is an attorney with Jeffs & Jeffs, EC, Service price-goug- Chrissa Lee Holt of Salt Lake City. The girl, uho was visiting St. George with her parents, was hit while riding her bike with her mother on July 30, 1992. Lt. Kerry Larson said Sargent was arrested after friends and acquaintances contacted police with information. Chrissa's grandfather, Jack Higbee, said the arrest has brought "tremendous relief for the whole family. it into unavail- e If you WILLARD (AP) phone Jan Nelson's house from one end of it to another be prepared to pay a long-distan- phone bill. "My kids have done that occasionally," she said. "Even if you call and hang up, they charge you for a minute." Their house is located near the boundary line between phone systems, serving two counties. As a result, the Nelsons have two phone lines: One to call Weber County, and one to call Box Elder County. Calls made across that line, even if only 20 feet distant, get rates. charged The situation has posed an even greater dilemma for neighbors who do not have two lines. Residents with children in Willard Elementary School, for example, have to call long distance to the school. Others are forced to call long distance just to talk to neighbors, even though the homes may be just down the street and in clear view. "We can't even call a block south (locally) and I'm sick of long-distan- Muscular Dystrophy Association ce dealing with charges that far," said Jay Davis, who is circulating a petition td , try to resolve the matter. is also Morgan County trying; to get Extended Area Service added to its phone exchange. Earlier this year, more than. 1,000 Morgan residents peti-- ! tioned the Public Service Com-- ! mission to avoid paying for! service every time they called outside Morgan long-distanc- e" --- long-distan- ce County. Commissioners still are considering that petition. Lisa Hurtado Armstrong,' spokeswoman for the Public Service Commission, said the problem in Willard is the loca tion of the central ing station that serves Weber and Box Elder counties. One is in Brigham City, and the other is inj Ogden. The boundary line between the areas had to be drawn somewhere, Armstrong said. Consequently, a call from J Davis house to his mend just down the street is first routed to Ogden, then to South Willard " picking up a charge along the way. ; phone-switch- -i long-distaiice- "" DESERET BOOK PRESENTS 1 I 1 Commission, which must approve any new tariff on phone service. "We've waited long enough for Provo. Phone call across Willard residence is long distance ability," the message read. Hadley also said computer users are not the only ones who fastest computer the market's hit-and-r- un Police have arrested a Hurricane woman three years after the death of a girl who was struck by a car while riding her bicycle. Sandra D. Sargent, 39, also known as Sandy Allred and Sandy Dehan, was taken into custody on Friday. She was arrested for invese vehicutigation of in the death of lar manslaughter TTT I SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utah employees injured at work cannot sue their employer's insur- Authorities make arrest in 1 992 fatality ST. 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