This month’s customer spotlight is on Zlien, a mechanic’s lien filing service.

Scott Wolfe, like a lot of entrepreneurs we meet, comes from a family of business owners. His parents own a retail store and a construction company in New Orleans. With these family genes its no wonder Scott has owned everything from a web company to a law firm, and now a mechanic's lien filing company. He’s grown up in the biz after all!

After law school, Scott started his own firm, specializing in construction law, but this was just the start of his entrepreneurial journey.  With his parents construction company, Scott saw the issues the construction industry faces with getting paid. This industry is plagued with serious credit challenges.

As a lawyer specializing in construction law, Scott saw an opportunity to help.

In the construction industry, projects are very complex. There are multiple parties working on a project. Getting paid on time doesn’t always happen. For example,  the painter may do a $50,000 paint job but not see the money for weeks or months after the job is completed. However, as we all know, bills don’t wait around until you have the money and neither do your employees. This is where mechanic's liens come in.

So, what’s a mechanic's lien? A mechanic's lien is a “hold” against your property, filed by unpaid contractors or suppliers.  When a lien is filed against your property, you must pay or up risk foreclosure or double payment for the same job. It could even prevent you from borrowing, refinancing or selling the property. Yikes!

The painter above could file a mechanic's lien to protect his business BUT filing a lien is hard, and confusing. The laws are different based on the city or state and what time-strapped entrepreneur has the spare time to dig around and figure this all out? Not anyone we know! We also forgot to mention, you only get one shot to file your lien.

That’s why Scott founded Zlien.

Thankfully, Zlien, has got you covered. Zlien manages the whole lien filing process, helping contractors and suppliers prepare and file their liens correctly and fast. Zlien also has a web-based application that calculates lien and notice deadlines, helping clients manage the complicated compliance issues we mentioned above. Talk about making people’s lives easier!

Want to learn more about Zlien? Check out their site, Tweet them, or connect with them on Facebook.