12.13 ALTERNATIVES TO MECHANICS' LIENS
12.1301 Civil Suit.
Section 43-23.2 of the Virginia Code provides that the remedies afforded by the mechanics' lien statutes are cumulative and are not in lieu of any other legal or equitable remedies. Consequently, a potential lien claimant may find it more advantageous simply to bring a civil suit on his or her contract, or to pursue both a mechanic's lien and a civil suit. The claimant may do this but is limited, of course, to one recovery. 1983
Separate from the claims under the contract, under certain circumstances, a subcontractor or supplier may be entitled to recover in quantum meruit against an owner or general contractor.In James G. Davis Constr. Corp. v. FTJ, Inc., 1984 a divided Supreme Court of Virginia upheld a supplier's judgment against a general contractor where the supplier had a joint check agreement with a troubled subcontractor and the general contractor owner continued to...
