Gathering lien waivers from the general contractor and subcontractors in New York

[Don Frost]

As a future flipper, I need a better understanding of lien waivers and have a question I hope you can help me with. As I understand it, in New York lien waivers are effective only if delivered when payment is made or after payment is made.

If I hire and pay a GC and they’re required to gather lien waivers from their subcontractors but they don’t or can’t because the subcontractors haven’t been paid, what do I do? This scenario leaves me susceptible to liens on my property even though I paid the GC. Getting conditional liens from subcontractors still puts me at risk if the GC doesn't pay them. I need to know exactly how to approach this. Again, thanks in advance for your thoughts!