THE MAJOR RISH OF WORK IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR...
MIAMI-DATE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD...
THE SURETY BUSINESS...
I AM DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN...
THERE ARE MANY FACTORS WHICH A CONTRACTOR HAS LITTLE CONTROL OF...
MOST
OF US ARE NOT LARGE ENOUGH FOR A HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT...
IN
THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS...
BECAUSE
OF THE CHANGE IN THE SURETY MARKETPLACE...
NEWSLETTER
ARCHIVE
IN CELEBRATION…
of a new President and a new administration, this issue's quotes will
be on "integrity". Bryon Langfeld said: "Rare is the person
who can weigh the faults of others without his thumb on the scale".
We all remember John F. Kennedy's famous statement: "And so, my fellow
Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can
do for your country." In 63 B.C., a Roman orator and statesman by
the name of Marcus Tullius Cacero said: "Ask not what your country
can do for you, but what you can for your country." Even after 2000
years, plagiarism is hard to hide. Franklin D. Roosevelt said: "The
ablest man I ever met is the man you think you are."
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THE MAJOR RISK OF WORK IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR… is being paid. I have seen a number of privately funded contracts recently that have ended in financial disaster for the contractor because of issues relating to the funding of the project. When a contractor negotiates a contract for a project that involves a loan, the owner will probably ask the contractor to sign an agreement, written by the lender, called a "Consent to Assign Agreement". The reason for this is because the lenders typically refuse to lend an owner money for a project unless the contractor on the project agrees that it will assign, that is, it will transfer its contract with the owner to the lender if the owner defaults on the loan payments. The lender wants to make sure it has the option of completing the project with the same contractor if the owner defaults. If the bank is dissatisfied with the contractor, it is usually cheaper to keep the same contractor on the project rather than to hire another contractor to complete the project.
You might feel pressure to sign the agreement so that the owner will get the loan and you'll get the contract. No matter how anxious you are for the project to go through, simply signing this agreement without making any changes, can be a big mistake. You may be agreeing to obligations that aren't in your contract with the owner. For example, the bank may require you to give up your right to terminate the contract if the owner hasn't paid you. This agreement may also make your company's officers personally responsible for any additional costs the lender incurs if it has to hire another contractor to do the work.
To avoid getting stuck with an unfair assignment, don't sign the Consent to Assignment Agreement without first reviewing it. Make sure that you are not giving up any rights that you have in the contract with the owner or giving the lender any more rights than the contract gives the owners.
I'll list seven issues to watch out for before you sign any Consent to Assignment Agreement, but because the limitation of space, I cannot expand on these issues. I would be happy to discuss them with you in general, but it's a good idea to get your lawyer's input before you sign any Consent to Assignment Agreement. The seven issues to watch out for are:
Once again, it is always advisable to have your attorney review any "Consent to Assignment Agreement" before signing it.
* * *
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln
"The more he talked of his honor the faster we counted our spoons." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"So long as a man is angry he can't be right." - Chinese proverb
"No man is free who is not master of himself." - Epictetus
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THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD… has been one of the largest providers of construction contracts in South Florida over the last two decades. There is no question about the fact that it is a large enterprise with a large and sometimes difficult bureaucracy. On the other hand, I would rate its mission as being almost impossible. We are talking about a County in which population has been skyrocketing and whose ethnic diversity is second to none in the United States. Recently, the School Board has been severely criticized for "land-buying procedures". There are accusations of overpayment for a West Kendall site. On May 7th, the State auditors released a final report of their review of the Miami-Dade School District's land acquisition practices. This is known as the OPPAGA Report. The State auditors said that the District has a generally effective process for identifying school needs and the report also praised the District for recently adopting land acquisition procedures to help insure that the prices it pays for the land are reasonable. Overall, it praised the District for generally building cost-effective schools. I know many of the individuals in the facilities side of the School Board and have the utmost respect for their ability and dedication. I think that the mission given to them is extremely difficult if not impossible.
In a county whose population is exploding and where the cost of construction and land continue to escalate, we are asking the School Board to project out five years, ten years, fifteen and even twenty years and to be certain that they have acquired the property and continue to maintain the funding for the huge number of schools that will be required to meet the projected needs. I do not doubt that there will be times in which the future needs of the School Board will require that they procure property, which may not at the necessary point of procurement, be priced as competitively as it would if they were able to wait and buy property as an investor might.
Any time you have a governmental bureaucracy, contractors will have to deal with issues and circumstances that will not always be completely fair in their perception, but overall, I think that Dr. Phillips and Dr. Pennington and their associates have done an exceptional job at a very difficult task. I take great exception to recent criticism leveled at the School Board and their land acquisition practices by The Miami Herald.
* * *
"I've helped
some people" - Grandma Moses (this was her reply at the age of 93
when asked what she was proudest of in her life).
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good
at heart." - Anne Frank
"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting." - Elizabeth Bibesco
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." - Cicero, 54 B.C.
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