Question: A contractor wants me to sign a Partial Release form on a job he hasn’t paid me for yet. Doesn’t that put me at risk of not collecting the money if I’m not really paid after I sign the release form? – Greg Storn

Answer: The good news here is that there is an easy solution to this issue. There are four different legal documents that apply to contracted work: 4. Unconditional Release Upon Final Payment

The only “condition” of a Conditional Release is that the release is valid only if the money specified on the release is paid to the contractor. In other words, if you are 50% complete with a $10,000 job, you can safely sign a Conditional Release Upon Progress Payment for $5,000. If you aren’t paid the $5,000, the release is not valid and you have not given up any of your lien rights to this money.

On the other hand, if you sign and Unconditional Release, you have just given up your rights to whatever amount of money that was on the Unconditional Release from. So the rule is, don’t sigh an Unconditional Release from until the money you are releasing is in your bank account. I’m not talking about a check in your hand, either. I’m saying that you should never sign an unconditional release until that check has cleared and the funds are literally in your bank account.

Some or my company’s corporate clients always ask for a release before they will pay an invoice. No problem, we just send them a Conditional Release Upon Progress Payment or a Conditional Release Upon Final Payment. Later, after their check has cleared into our bank account, we will (if they ask) follow up with an Unconditional Release.

By the way, Conditional Release forms protect both the client and the contractor. If a client gets a Conditional Release form a contractor, they know that they are protected from getting a lien from that contractor, but only if they actually pay the contractor the money specified on the lien.

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Investing in a home is no easy feat; it requires extensive planning and saving, not to mention patience. But at the end of the day, you will be happy that you made the decision. Because you’ve invested substantial time, money, and energy into make your home a place of solace, it’s important to ensure it’s safe and up to code. This is where we come in.

Every electrical company is going to be different, from the service electricians who come to your home to the quality of service they provide, and of course, to the types of services they provide. Make sure you choose a company who will always have your safety and best interest in mind at all times.

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Antique architecture might be beautiful, but the electrical wiring in old houses doesn’t carry the same kind of charm. If you have an older home with an electrical system that hasn’t seen updates in a long time, you could be living in dangerous conditions without realizing it.

There are warning signs that may indicate your wiring is too old, but if you’re ever in doubt, there’s a fool-proof way to get an assessment of your system: Call in a professional! An expert will perform an in-depth inspection of your home’s wiring so you can be aware of the situation and the solutions for it.

With outdated wiring, you may notice strange signs from time to time. Some of them might occur with more regularity than others, but any instances at all can be cause for concern. In general, you’re at risk for having old wiring if your house is 40 years old or more. A few warning signs include:

Although old wiring can raise insurance premiums and keep you from using as many appliances as you’d like, the most important issue is safety. Over the course of time, the insulation surrounding the wires will break down until it eventually leaves the wiring exposed. The insulation protecting older wires doesn’t last as long as it does in newer installations. This means outdated electrical systems are much more likely to feature exposed wiring than those installed more recently.

With inner wiring exposed, the likelihood of short circuits and power failures goes up. Worse, deteriorated insulation translates to a much higher risk of suffering from electrical shocks or having fires break out in your home.

If you have any doubts about the wiring in your house, don’t take unnecessary risks. Ignoring the warning signs of an outdated electrical system can put you and your loved ones in danger. Beyond that, whatever money you might hope to save by not calling a professional would only go into repairs later on.