What are the obligations and liabilities of lenders receiving Notices to Owner?
Lenders have a duty to exercise reasonable care to see that payments to contractors are made in compliance with the construction lien law when the lender is given sole authority on behalf of the owner to make such payments. Thus, a lender who is served with a notice to owner is required to make proper payments when it disburses construction funds for an owner (when lender pays contractors or other lienors directly) to the extent that the lender has received copies of Notices to Owner. In the event the lender does not make proper payments, it may be liable to the owner. It should be noted that the lien statutes do not prohibit a lender from disbursing construction funds at any time to the owner, in which event the lender has no obligation to make proper payments. Fla. Stat. §713.3471 expanded the liability of lenders to protect contractors in very limited circumstances, such as when a lender on a construction project terminates draws on a construction loan, the lender must serve a writt
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